Cat Got Your Tongue
by aflightoffancy
Summary: Max and Alec are sent on a mission to save another transgenic, only to find they’re the ones in need of saving... MA.
1. Chapter 1

**Cat Got Your Tongue**

Summary: Max and Alec are sent on a mission to save another transgenic, only to find they're the ones in need of saving.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Sadly.

_This, my friends, is a giant puff piece. Giant. The last story got a little too angsty and when Alec's not happy, I'm not happy. Hence… the puff piece._

Chapter One

* * *

"Max," Alec sighed, "you sure know how to show a guy a good time."

"Shut up," Max snapped, focusing on the computer screen. The annoying thing was that she was feeling just as impatient. The files Logan needed were still downloading and it was taking forever.

"I mean, I could have been spending a perfectly wonderful evening at Crash, but no, here I am cowering in some boring, rich guy's office just because Logan thinks he's up to no good."

"Logan wants proof to turn over to the police and we're helping him."

"_You're_ helping him," Alec replied, sounding huffy. "I was dragged here kicking and screaming."

"Consider it your good deed for the year." Max spared the time to turn and glare at him. "I know that's a new concept for you." Her glare didn't do any good, however. Alec wasn't looking at her. He was kneeling on the floor staring out the window.

"You'd better hurry it up," Alec said mildly. "That sector cop must have seen something when we were getting in. He's been standing there watching for five minutes now."

Max stayed low and moved to his side to look out the window with him. "You sure he's watching us?"

At that moment, a police cruiser pulled up and the cop who'd been watching them walked toward it to speak with his co-worker. "That answer your question?" Alec offered dismally.

"Great." Max turned back toward the computer. It still needed a couple of minutes.

They both looked up at the sound of voices in the hall. No one was supposed to be on this floor. The owner was throwing a party and everyone was supposed to be downstairs. It was why they'd come in from the top floor and worked their way down to the office.

The voices were getting closer to the door. She silently willed them to keep moving, but no such luck. They stopped outside the office and she heard the doorknob turning.

Max barely had time to register Alec moving past her into the small space beneath the desk and pulling her with him. Alec sat cross-legged and hurriedly settled her into his lap, her back against his chest. Max grabbed one of the rollers on the office chair and pulled it as far into the kneehole as it would go and still leave them room to breathe.

They both heard it as the door opened and whoever it was tumbled into the room. Max heard giggling and rolled her eyes. Alec made a sound of annoyance as he too realized what was going on.

Giggling, heavy breathing, sloppy kissing. Ugh. People just couldn't control themselves. She'd managed to keep her paws off Logan for over a year, with a few exceptions. It wasn't _that_ difficult. It certainly didn't require sneaking out of a party to make out in some jerk's office.

The desk was jolted slightly, followed by more heavy breathing and other sounds Max really wished she wasn't hearing. Alec's arm tightened around her and Max was instantly reminded that she was sitting in his lap. They were both facing outward. Alec had one arm wrapped around her waist, his hand flat against her stomach. His other hand was resting against her hip. She felt him lean forward, his breath tickling her ear. "You owe me so big for this one," he hissed. "_Huge_."

"Shut up," she managed to get out through clenched teeth. Not only was the position beyond awkward, but so was her situation. Alec might be her make-believe boyfriend for Logan's sake and she'd gotten used to him keeping up the act, but that didn't mean she was used to Alec being _this_ close. She could feel him breathing shallowly behind her, his chest pressed to her back, feel the muscles in his legs and arms. She could feel the tension in him, but also couldn't fail to notice that she might as well not have even been there.

Some men might have behaved differently with a woman in their lap. Apparently not Alec. Alec was all business and his attention was focused on the couple who were currently blocking their exit. Of course, that didn't mean he was completely still. Alec just wasn't capable of not fidgeting. He was absentmindedly rubbing his fingers in a circle against her skin just above the waistband of her jeans.

"Stop that," Max whispered, smacking his hand. Alec obeyed without comment and Max wasn't sure it was better when he simply laid his warm hand flat against her side.

"Did you hear that?"

Max and Alec froze.

"Eddie, stop." They heard a quiet scuffling as the woman clearly forced Eddie away. "I heard something."

"It's nothing, sweetie," the man almost groaned. "Nobody even noticed us leaving. We hardly know any of those people anyway."

Sweetie's legs came into view as she walked around the desk. "What's that?"

"What?" Eddie asked, grumpily giving up on what he'd expected to be a nice interlude to the party.

"That," she said, and Max guessed she must be pointing.

"It's downloading something to a flash drive," the man said, suddenly sounding a lot less grumpy and a lot more interested. "Why would it be doing that? Mr. Hibbert has been downstairs all evening."

She felt Alec's muscles tense around her at the exact same time she decided to move. Alec pulled his arm from around her and helped to propel her forward.

Max had the chair out of the way and quickly took down Sweetie who barely had the time to gasp before she was unconscious. Alec followed Max out from under the desk and did the same for Eddie.

"I'm sorry, Max."

"What for?" she said, pushing a bit of hair out of her face.

Alec grinned widely. "I was wrong about not having any fun tonight." Max smacked his arm, but he just continued grinning as he moved back toward the window.

Max saw the computer had finished downloading and pocketed the small flash drive that Logan had given her. She turned back toward Alec to see him frowning. "What?"

"See for yourself."

Max peeked out the window to see that the cops had apparently decided to have a party of their own outside the house. "Crap."

Alec nodded. "Looks like we'll be playing dress up."

"What are you talking about?"

Alec pointed toward the unconscious couple. Eddie was in a tuxedo and Sweetie was in a floor-length ice blue satin gown. "The cops will be all the way around this building but they won't come in because Mr. Big Wig will be ticked and make sure they don't get their raise this year. We're going to have to do this in plain sight. We'll dress up and walk out like party guests."

"There's got to be some other way," Max said, her tone perilously close to a whine.

"Sure. We can go out there and beat up a few cops, draw a whole lot of attention to ourselves and do some more permanent damage to the transgenic cause." Alec shrugged. "I don't personally have a problem with that, but I thought you might." He raised one eyebrow. "Or we can do it the easy way and just walk out."

Max just looked at him and Alec's face remained carefully impassive while she decided. "Fine," she said through clenched teeth.

"Fine," he echoed. Alec knelt beside the woman and flipped her over. With alarming speed, he removed her dress and threw it to Max. She tried very hard not to think about how familiar Alec was with undressing a woman and how irrationally annoyed it made her. Oblivious to her thoughts which were absolutely _not,_ in any way, shape or form, to be misconstrued as jealousy, Alec moved on to the man and quickly started removing his tux.

"Quit worrying about what I might see and just put it on, Max," Alec said, enough amusement in his tone that Max wanted to strangle him. He was enjoying their predicament just a little too much. When he stood up, however, he kept his back to her without having to be asked.

Max turned around as well and for several seconds just stared at the dress in her hands. How did she get herself into these situations? Max liked riding around on her motorcycle, general larceny, and hitting things. That's what she was good at.

"Max, stop thinking and put the dress on," Alec ordered with decidedly less amusement. "We don't have much time here."

Max fought the urge to snap back, mostly because she didn't know what to say. He was right. She was just putting off the inevitable. Max toed off her shoes and then pulled off her clothes, making a small pile on the floor. She then slipped the gown on over her head. The stupid thing was strapless, of course, which meant she couldn't wear her bra, nor would anything the woman was wearing work. They just weren't built similarly. The dress zipped up the side at least, so she didn't have to ask Alec to help with that. Not even fate was that cruel.

"You decent?"

"Sorta," Max said, turning around. And then her jaw nearly dropped open. Alec was stunning. He'd always been handsome. Manticore had made sure they were all good looking and Alec was better looking than most, but… The tuxedo might have been made for him it fit so well and for just a moment Max was viscerally reminded of why women had a tendency to turn into drooling idiots around him. He even had the bow tie already in place. Where had he learned how to tie a bow tie? Assassination Formalwear 101?

It took Max another second to realize that Alec was wearing a similarly astonished expression, although it quickly melted away into a smirk. "So there _is_ a girl hiding underneath that angry Amazon warrior exterior."

Max felt herself bristling. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're beautiful." He shrugged as if it were the most normal thing to say. "Not that you're not hot when you're wearing your ass-kicking boots." He raised his hands to ward her off. "Don't hit me for saying you're good looking."

She frowned. It was a compliment. Sort of. The real compliment, however, was in his eyes and Max felt herself beginning to warm slightly at the intensity of his gaze. Which was wrong on so many levels. "Whatever," she snapped. "Can we get this over with?"

Alec knelt beside the woman again and pulled off her shoes, which Max gratefully noted were not too high. Alec motioned her closer and positioned one of the shoes for her to step into. Max picked up her long skirt and did as he asked, startled as she felt his strong, confident fingers on her ankle helping her into the shoe.

"Next," he said and quickly repeated the process with the other foot, his fingers finally sliding away from her ankle as she dropped the skirt and stepped back.

At which point Max realized they had a bigger problem. Or at least she had a problem. The other woman had been about the same height as she was, but she'd definitely been a size or two larger. While that might not have been a complete disaster in some dresses, in a strapless dress with no real underpinning, it was definitely a problem. Max tugged at the sagging bodice of the dress to bring it back up where it was supposed to be.

Alec chuckled and Max took a second to glare at him. "This is not funny."

"Oh, it's pretty funny. Logan doesn't know what he's missing not going on his little missions with you."

"Shut up. Logan can't-"

"Save it," Alec said, frowning. "If the guy can snap logs in half with his robo-legs, I think he can do his own breaking and entering."

"He's not trained like we are," Max answered, surprised at Alec's annoyance.

"Max, if I were your boyfriend, I wouldn't let you out of my sight to go on these stupid missions of his."

And there it was again, that feeling of warmth spreading all over her. Because Alec was always with her on these missions and he never let her out of his sight.

"That doesn't change the fact that this dress is too big and I'm going to flash…," she gestured vaguely with her hands, "_myself_, at everyone downstairs."

Alec's smirk returned in full force. "Well, if you flash _yourself_, I'm pretty sure they'll all be so stunned we can just walk out the front door, so it's a win-win."

Max growled in frustration. "You're not helping."

"Just hold your dress up until we get downstairs," he said nonchalantly, "and then I'll take care of it."

"What are you going to do?"

"Trust me." He smiled, and Max wondered if she wasn't the only one with shark DNA.

* * *

_A man in a tux is just one of the most beautiful things on this planet. More soon._


	2. Chapter 2

**Cat Got Your Tongue**

Summary: Max and Alec are sent on a mission to save another transgenic, only to find they're the ones in need of saving.

_Thank you for all the lovely reviews. And now back to that darn dress…_

Chapter Two

* * *

Alec rapidly gathered up their clothes into a ball and then walked to the door and peeked out. "Coast is clear. Come on." Max followed and watched as he snuck into one of the rooms down the hall and then immediately reappeared without their clothes. "They'll search the office top to bottom, but not in there. I'll come back and get our clothes later, if I can," he whispered.

Max just nodded. When you lived like they did, you didn't have much, and what you did you had to take care of.

"Ready?" he asked, waiting while she once again readjusted the bodice of her dress.

Max scowled. "As I'll ever be." It was annoying her to feel awkward and yet wonderfully girlie all at the same time.

"Stop fidgeting," Alec ordered. "You look great."

"I look like I'm gonna fall outta my dress," Max snapped.

Alec raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think I said you look great?" he asked, straight-faced.

Max immediately punched him on the shoulder and then ruined the effect when she had to grab her dress to keep it in place.

"The price you pay for being mean to your buddy Alec," he laughed. He led the way down the stairs and then waited for her at the bottom. As soon as she reached the landing, he put his left arm around her waist, wrapping himself around her. He brought them hip to hip where he was standing beside her and then raised his hand on her other side very securely holding her dress at the appropriate height, his fingers curled around her ribs just below her breasts.

"Don't get any funny ideas," Max hissed out of the side of her mouth as he began leading them toward the sound of music and voices.

"You want me to let go, just say the word," he said, his blank, I'm-on-a-mission expression already in place.

Max allowed herself a second of grinding her teeth, before she slapped on her most vapid party-type smile just as they walked into the large room being used for the reception. She remembered from the blueprints that they were going to have to go through it to get to the front door.

The end of the room they entered was filled with people milling around, drinks in their hand, chatting boredly, but politely. Alec nodded to several people as they passed. They looked momentarily surprised, but couldn't bring themselves to admit that they didn't know who she and Alec were. He expertly guided them through the crowd toward the other end and they had just made it to the edge of the group, when a hand on Alec's arm stopped them.

She and Alec turned and Max had to keep her eyes from widening as she realized it was their mark, the owner of the house.

"Mr. Hibbert," Alec said genially, "I was just telling my wife that we hadn't had a chance to talk to you yet this evening." Alec held out his hand for the man to shake and Max realized he had purposely used his left hand to help her with her dress just so he wouldn't have to release her to do something like this. She appreciated his pre-planning, but then, he'd also just called her his wife. While the thought sent a bizarre thrill down her spine, Max's first instinct was to punch his teeth in. She decided, however, to hold onto that privilege for later since it just might give the game away.

"Yes, I'm so glad you could come this evening," the politician said, his eyes wandering from Alec's face to Max's bosom then back again. "I don't believe I've seen you since…" The guy was fishing since he couldn't just come out and say 'Who are you?'

"Probably been since the meeting last year with Buckley," Alec said, completely blowing smoke and the man just nodded as if Alec's comment made perfect sense. "But if you don't mind, I promised my wife a dance before I talked any business." Alec's smile was wan, like the perfect downtrodden, put-upon husband. "I'll be sure to find you in a bit. I actually have something I would like to discuss with you."

The politician nodded again politely, too good at the game to show any confusion. "Of course, of course. It is a party first, after all." They all smiled their empty smiles and Alec turned her away and led her toward where couples were dancing.

Despite their best efforts, Max's dress was still heading south. Alec must have noticed because he pulled away and put both of his hands at her waist. "Care for a dance, my dear?" He slid his hands up her sides, inconspicuously drawing the satiny dress back up where it was supposed to be, and causing Max to shiver reflexively. He then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her flush against him. Both of his hands were splayed wide across her back holding the dress in place while her breasts were pressed against him, holding the dress up in front. "Better?"

"Great," Max managed through clenched teeth. Could her night get any more embarrassing? She was literally having to keep her boobs crushed against Alec's chest just to keep her dress from falling off and flashing the entire room, Alec included. Max raised her arms and set her hands on his shoulders and he immediately led them into the dance, swaying very slightly to the sedate music.

Alec leaned closer, his mouth by her ear. "Could you try to look like you don't hate me," he whispered. "The snarling is kind of a give away."

Alec pulled back and looked down at her, for all the world looking like an adoring husband enjoying a dance with his wife. Max did her best to comply and guessed she must have managed some semblance of it when Alec relaxed slightly against her. The knowledge was once again unnerving, since it meant that she was close enough to him to feel the actual tension in his muscles.

"If you try anything," Max batted her eyelashes sweetly, "I'll make sure you never even have the option of fathering a child."

Alec laughed and Max could feel it through her entire body she was so closely wrapped around him. "I know you think I'm incapable of controlling my… urges."

"Your inability to control your _urges_ is infamous," Max said, her tone still sickly sweet.

"Max, Max," Alec said all mock-sadness, "you should have stuck around longer. Manticore made sure we could control everything." He looked down at her, their eyes meeting as he actually pulled her closer and Max gasped at the full, thigh-hip-chest contact. "_Everything_."

Max couldn't hold his oh-so-controlled and yet somehow feral, green-eyed gaze. She let her eyes drop to Alec's bowtie. Max didn't like to think about what those who hadn't escaped had been through, but Alec had just provided her with yet another reason she was grateful for running when she had. She could only imagine what training like that had entailed. And she used the term _training_ loosely.

Alec guided them slowly but surely toward the front of the room and the exit, as expert a dancer as he was a marksman. As soon as they reached the doorway, Alec swung her to the side and once again used his hand on one side and his body on the other to anchor her dress in place. Max was really starting to think that just beating the crap out of the cops outside would have been the better route.

They quickly moved toward the front door and then outside, ignoring the watchful eyes of the police as they passed. Alec leaned over toward her as if they were sharing some sort of lovers' secret, hugging her close and the police went right back to staring at the building.

Once they were out of sight of the cops, Alec released her and they hurried toward where they'd stashed their bikes. Max stopped beside her Ninja and then frowned, realizing the sheath-like dress was once again going to be a problem, both top and bottom this time.

"Here, let me," Alec said, once again appearing at her side. "I'll come back for mine when I come back for the clothes." He got on her bike and then motioned for her to come closer. "You're going to have to ride sidesaddle."

"Oh, no, I don't," Max said stubbornly.

"You wanna flash everyone that's fine by me," he replied reasonably, starting the motorcycle. "Little chilly out here though."

Max wanted to cry. She wanted to just sit down on the ground and cry. And then she was going to hit something. A lot. This entire evening had been a fiasco from start to finish. She was embarrassed, frustrated, and was certain she'd just been more up close and personal with Alec than she'd ever intended to be.

"Come on," Alec said, his tone surprisingly gentle. He helped her onto the motorcycle, settling her in front of him so she would be able to use him as well as the bike to steady herself. She felt Alec lean back and looked up to see him pulling off his tuxedo jacket. Without a word, he draped it around her shoulders before leaning forward again, his arms on either side of her.

Alec guided the motorcycle out of the alley they'd hidden it in and once he was certain they weren't being watched, sedately headed in the opposite direction of the house. Max knew he was keeping the pace slow for her sake since she wasn't securely seated, but neither of them mentioned it. He simply drove them toward Joshua's old house and Logan.

Alec's scent surrounded her and she realized it was from his coat as much as his proximity. Even in the short time he'd worn it, it had soaked up the scent that without even realizing it she associated with him. He smelled of cat and man, a hint of the leather coat he liked to wear lingered, a faint trace of the aftershave he normally used, but not tonight because he was on the job and didn't want it giving him away, beneath that the tiniest trace of gun oil and gunpowder. Alec spent too much time around them to keep the scent from soaking into his skin.

It was all so familiar and reassuring that Max nearly forgot herself and relaxed into Alec's embrace. She just caught herself and stiffened her spine, holding herself away from him as best she could.

Things just hadn't been the same since she'd told Logan she was dating Alec. It was like saying it had somehow brought it into the realm of possibility, impossible as that was. She felt over-sensitive every time she was near him, noticing anything and everything. It was as if calling him her boyfriend had somehow transformed him from the guy who was always just around to someone she couldn't seem to ignore.

Which was all just ridiculous. This was _Alec_. Who had given her his coat. He hadn't learned that in Political Assassinations 101. Charm School either.

Finally, Max saw Logan's house coming into view. Alec braked to a halt and Max immediately jumped off the bike and away from him. She'd had just about as much awkwardness as she could handle for one night. Her dress, however, had very different ideas and chose that moment to fall to half-mast.

Max gasped and Alec looked up in alarm as he got off the motorcycle. "What's wrong?"

"MY DRESS!" Max practically screamed.

Alec held up his hands. "Whoa, Max. It's ok. We're almost done here. I'm gonna, um…" He approached her cautiously, took the coat's lapels and held them closed for her. "You do what you need to do."

Fuming and still furious with life in general, Max yanked the dress back up into place. "Thank you," she said, her tone clipped.

Alec moved back, his usual smirk in place. "Any time."

Max stormed past him into the house, not bothering to be subtle about holding up her dress anymore. She walked in to find Logan sitting at his desk in front of the computer. He looked up wide-eyed as she stomped in, Alec right behind her.

"Everything all right?" Logan asked warily.

"Fine," she bit out. "We got the information you wanted."

"I was worried when I heard some chatter on the police band," he said, his eyes skipping between her and Alec and only then did she consider what they must look like. When they'd left, she and Alec had been in burglar-mode. Now they were in evening dress and Alec's tuxedo jacket was draped around her.

"We had a little trouble, but it worked out all right," Alec offered.

"Great. What did you find?"

And that was when Max thought she was going to hyperventilate. She'd put the flash drive in her pants pocket, which meant she'd left it at the freaking _house_ when she'd changed clothes.

Alec stepped around in front of her so that his back was to Logan and he was blocking Max. He half-reached for the edge of the tuxedo jacket she was still wearing, raising an eyebrow in silent request for permission. Max frowned, but just barely nodded.

Alec grasped the lapel and opened the jacket far enough that he could reach into the breast pocket. Max inhaled, nervously drawing away from his hand, although Alec was careful not to touch her, seeming to realize she was nearing her limits for the evening. He quickly extracted the flash drive from the interior pocket and then stepped back so they were both facing Logan.

"I grabbed it from your pants after you changed," Alec explained, a tiny smirk appearing. "You must not have noticed since you were fighting with the dress." He very precisely tossed the flash drive to the other man who caught it after the tiniest bobble.

"Fighting?" Logan asked uncertainly.

"The freaking dress doesn't fit," Max nearly growled.

"Okay," Logan said, drawing out the word. "Thanks for this," he held up the tiny bit of electronics, "but I'm afraid we have a new problem."

Alec groaned dramatically. "What now? I just want to prop myself up in front of the TV with a drink."

"Stop whining," Max ordered. "You're not the one who nearly flashed half the town council."

"You're right." Alec nodded solemnly. "The evening wasn't a total loss."

"Guys," Logan said, "can you two focus for a second?"

Max's eyes narrowed. She hated it when he got that _I'm the grown up here_ tone. "What is it?"

"While you were at the party, I had someone send me a strange report."

Alec rolled his eyes. "Is this going to take long? Cause I'm gonna sit down if this is gonna take a while."

Max shot him a glare and was annoyed to see how little he seemed to be affected. She turned back to Logan. "Report?"

"Have you heard of Sullivan Enterprises?" Logan asked in return.

"I guess." Max shrugged. "Some rich guy who owns half the state."

"Has a reputation for being almost psychic when it comes to making business deals," Alec said, drawing the attention of the other two. "What? You think I watch all that TV and never learn anything?"

"Right." Logan coughed. "What they're not saying is that he's not psychic." Alec snorted and Logan frowned at him. "He's not that good a businessman either. His luck changed dramatically about a year ago."

"A year ago?" Max asked, an uncomfortable feeling growing in her gut. "Like about the time we burnt down Manticore, a year ago?"

"About two weeks after Manticore went down, Sullivan made his first big deal. From a few other things I was told, my best guess is that he got his hands on a Battle Processor."

"Like Brain?" she asked.

"Exactly. I think Sullivan is using whoever it is to predict and arrange the best way to make his business grow. He's eating up smaller businesses, pushing others out of the way. According to the report he's starting to influence politicians as well to ensure everything goes the way he wants it to. He's a real corporate raider and he's using one of you to make it happen. His business headquarters is here, but he has a satellite office several hours from here where he spends an unusually large amount of time."

"So you want us to rush to the rescue," Alec said disinterestedly.

Logan frowned. "I'm sure Max won't mind if you're too… _busy_."

"Oh, I wouldn't send Max off on her own without backup," Alec said airily. "Besides, it'll be like a vacation." Alec put his arm around Max and took a step closer to her, a silent reminder as to who stood where in Max's affections.

For her part, Max had to school her features. Logan looked like he was suddenly in pain and she wanted to shove Alec away, but knew she couldn't. It was for Logan's good as well as her own that they stay apart. They both needed to move on and Alec was helping her with that. Unfortunately, that didn't mean she could stop her mouth. "It's a rescue mission, Alec, not a road trip," she snapped.

"You can rescue," Alec assured her. "I'll be on vacation."

"Whatever," Max said. "Just as long as I get out of this dress."

"You've got all the information we need?" Alec asked.

Logan picked up a folder from the table beside him and handed it over. "There are blueprints in there, as well as a few articles, anything I thought you might find useful. Passes to get through any checkpoints. You'll also need these." He tossed a set of keys to Max who caught them one handed. "It'll be too cold for you to take the motorcycles and you'll need the car to transport whoever it is."

"Thanks," Max said sincerely. "We'll take good care of her."

Logan nodded, his eyes skipping from her to Alec, then finally settling on her. "Be careful." And Max could practically see the added suggestion to be careful of Alec. A few months ago, she definitely would have agreed, but these days… Logan's condescension, especially with Alec standing right in front of him, made her hackles start to rise.

Apparently she wasn't the only one it bothered. Alec's arm tightened around her and he looked down at her, a suddenly intimate smile appearing, one she knew only passed between people who were _that_ close. It was a show for Logan's sake, but it had her tingling from head to toe.

"I'll be careful with her," Alec said, possessiveness in his tone, a warning to Logan and a promise to her. It looked so real even Max would have believed it if she hadn't known it was a lie. "Now if you'll excuse us," Alec added, turning her toward the door, "I have to take Max home and help her out of her dress."

* * *

_More soon…_


	3. Chapter 3

**Cat Got Your Tongue**

Summary: Max and Alec are sent on a mission to save another transgenic, only to find they're the ones in need of saving.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Sadly.

_The last chapters were just a veiled excuse to get Alec in a tux, so let's get the real show on the road…_

Chapter Three

* * *

Max drove while Alec sat in the passenger seat, looking over the pieces of paper Logan had stuck in the file folder, and verbally gave her an overview. It all sounded pretty straightforward. Evil rich guy wanting more money, more power… the usual. He'd been a so-so businessman until a year ago when he'd suddenly become the world's most impressive strategist and had begun out-thinking, out-maneuvering, out-buying, out-selling everyone else. In just a year he'd gone from mediocrity to one of the richest, most influential men around.

Alec shut the file folder, and leaned back against the headrest. "Tell me again why I'm not in bed?" It was shortly before dawn and they still had a little way to drive.

Max sighed and took her eyes off the road just long enough to give him a proper glare. "Because this guy is using one of us and we have to stop him."

Alec didn't bother to hold back a derisive snort. "Wrong on both counts," he said disinterestedly.

Max frowned. He sounded very certain and genuinely unconcerned, which was odd. Alec might be a flighty sort of guy in general, but when a transgenic was in trouble he was always there to help her. _He'd_ come to _her_ to help the fish girl. "What do you mean?"

Alec shrugged. "If it is a Battle Processor then if the guy wants out, he'd get out. You can't keep someone that smart who can plan that strategically locked up if they don't want to be locked up. Manticore kept them under strict lock-down. Rumor had it they still made a couple of good runs at getting out. I'm pretty sure they eventually embedded tracking systems in a few of them."

"Embedded?"

"Surgically," Alec answered. "They had to for the real problem children."

"Nice," was all she could manage.

"Just the way it was. You lived by the rules, everything went pretty well," Alec said. Max cast him a sidelong glance, but Alec wasn't looking at her. He was very studiously looking out the side window. The unspoken words, _but if you didn't…_ hanging painfully in the air.

"So you think this guy must be working with Sullivan instead of a hostage sort of thing."

"Could a businessman keep _you_ locked up for a year?" Alec asked instead of answering.

Max didn't just shoot from the hip. She and Alec both knew from experience that they could be kept against their will. "Maybe. Wouldn't be easy."

"Now imagine you're as smart as Brain."

Max sighed and nodded. He had a point. "So it's more likely we're going up against an evil business type _and_ an X-Series smarter than both of us put together."

"We might not be as smart," he turned back toward her, "but put us both together and we might dazzle them to death with our stunning good looks."

Max rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop her mouth from quirking up at one corner. "Whatever."

* * *

Max and Alec crept down the corridor although getting into the building had been disgustingly easy. The few people they'd seen had paid them little attention. According to the plans and the info Logan had given them there was a section on the second floor that the rest of the employees weren't allowed. That, of course, was where they were headed.

Max looked down the corridor to find that it wasn't any better secured than the rest of the building. She moved forward, Alec walking beside and slightly behind her until they reached the only door on the hallway, although it looked no different than any of the others in the building. It was still their best guess as to where they were keeping the Battle Processor. She carefully tugged on the door to find that it opened easily. She shot Alec a worried glance, but he just shrugged and together they moved into the room.

Inside, it looked more like an apartment than an office. To one side was a bed with a nightstand and lamp beside it. Against the far wall was a kitchenette and a small blocked off area that Max suspected was a bathroom. One entire wall was taken up with TVs, none of them turned up particularly loudly, but together they made a nearly unbearable amount of noise. The room had to be soundproofed for them not to have heard it from the hall.

The only other furniture was a large desk with very neat stacks of papers and a computer with several screens. A young man about their age sat at the desk pouring over the papers and typing at the computer. He looked tired, but other than that seemed to be in decent enough health. He was the most non-descript person Max could ever recall seeing. He was the epitome of average. Average weight, height, hair was brown, but not too dark or too light, nothing particularly outstanding about his face. If he was like Brain, she supposed that made sense. Manticore had intentionally made it so that there was nothing to draw attention to the real brains behind an operation.

He didn't even look up as they entered and Max thought that was a little odd. If he was that brilliant, surely he should realize someone had invaded his territory.

"Is it just me," Alec said, frowning, "or does he look a little… clueless to you?"

"Clueless?"

"Kinda… blank."

It took her a second, but Max saw what he meant. The man was working diligently, but he wasn't making the normal faces someone made when they were concentrating. He looked sort of dazed.

The door behind them opened slightly and Max and Alec blurred toward the bed and slid underneath just in time to see someone appear in the doorway, although all they could see were feet. They watched the feet as they walked into the room and stopped right in front of the desk. He was facing away from them and she and Alec both carefully peeked out from beneath the bed.

He was a tall man, dark headed, wearing slacks and a long-sleeved dress shirt and tie. She couldn't see any sign that he was armed. The noise from the TVs abruptly stopped and Max guessed there was a remote somewhere.

"Good morning, Flash. How are you today?" the man asked, his tone friendly, but in that oily, salesman sort of way.

They guy at the desk just grunted, barely sparing a moment to take his eyes off the papers. Then there was a pause and the guy looked up again, his eyes suddenly focusing. He looked confused and then for just a second, a hint of anger flickered across his features.

"Now, Flash, we don't have a problem, do we?" the man said smoothly, so smoothly it made Max's skin crawl.

The guy at the desk kept staring at the man, but his expression began to falter, then once again took on the dazed look they'd seen before. "No problem. Working on Mr. Sullivan's report for today."

"Excellent," the man replied. "You finish that up before his meeting and then you can get some sleep. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

The man nodded then turned on his heel and walked back to the door. Max saw his profile as he walked away and realized he was a good looking man, handsome even, but in a hard sort of way, his features too angular. The door closed automatically and Max looked back toward Flash to see that he'd returned to his paperwork.

Alec scurried out from beneath the bed and was already heading for the door. He turned his head toward her and Max saw that he was pale as a ghost, his eyes wide and startled looking. "We've got to get out of here." It was a statement, not even a suggestion. "NOW."

"What? Why?" Max hurried to catch him before he opened the door. "Alec, what's the matter with you? We have to help this guy."

"No way," Alec shot back. "There is no way. We've got to go or we're gonna be sitting there right beside him."

"What are you talking about?" She shot a quick glance toward Flash and saw that he was paying them absolutely no attention.

"Didn't you see that guy?" Alec looked calm on the surface, but she could tell that underneath he was in a near panic, though trying desperately to control it.

"Yeah, I saw him. So what?"

"Max, that guy was Psy-Ops. He's one of the people who specialized in telecoercion." He pointed to Flash. "That's how they're keeping this guy here and why there's no need for security. He's had his wings clipped to keep him from escaping."

"So we'll sneak him out of here and it'll wear off."

"And if that guy so much as sees us, we'll both be down for the count before we can even open our mouths. Coercives are nasty people, Max. Mia just gave us a little nudge here and there to get what she wanted and nobody really got hurt, but my guess is that back in the day even Mia wasn't like Mia. Most of them enjoyed what they did. They liked reconditioning us. They liked making us do things against our will. I'm not getting caught anywhere near that guy."

"What about Flash? Are you prepared to just leave him here?" she demanded angrily.

"Yeah, I am," Alec said with certainty. "We'll figure out another way to get him out of here that doesn't require risking our brains getting scrambled."

"We'll sneak him out. They won't even know he's gone."

"Max, all this guy needs is a second of eye contact. That's it," Alec said, desperate to convince her.

Max just marched toward Flash. She slapped her hand down on the papers he was studying and the man blinked as if coming out of a trance and looked up at her. "452? You shouldn't be here." He looked behind her to Alec. "You shouldn't be here either, 494."

"None of us should be here," she replied, not surprised he knew them. Brain had known nearly everything about her.

"Mr. Sullivan will be here in a few minutes for the paperwork. I have work to do," Flash said mechanically, although he frowned as he said it, as if he didn't really believe it.

"That guy told you to do it, but you don't have to," Max assured him. "You don't have to do paperwork for Mr. Sullivan anymore."

Flash immediately shook his head. "I have work to do. Go away. Both of you."

"Max, this guy's been under the influence of a Coercive for a year. It won't just wear off in few minutes."

"You two need to leave. I can't afford to be distracted."

"We're here to get you out of this place. They're using you," Max said in exasperation.

"I know," Flash replied blankly. "They caught me after Manticore burned and have kept me here ever since. That doesn't mean I don't have work to do."

"Max!" Alec physically turned her toward him. "He's too well conditioned. He'll do his best to get us caught. We have to _go_."

She looked at his wide, frightened eyes and realized that Alec was all too familiar with what it was like to be in the hands of Psy-Ops for an extended amount of time.

"Max, _please_!"

"All right," Max said and as soon as it was out of her mouth Alec was dragging her toward the door. He already had his gun in his hand, held down by his side.

"If you see him, kill him." He made eye contact with her, his fierce determination battering her. "Don't even hesitate. If he realizes who we are, we're already as good as dead."

"Alec, I don't have a gun."

"Fine. Stay behind me. I'll shoot him." He turned and opened the door just enough to peer out.

"I wouldn't do that."

Max and Alec both whipped around at the sound of Flash's voice. "Why not?" Alec asked.

"He knows you're here."

"How does he know that?"

"I set off the silent alarm when you came out from under the bed," Flash said, still typing something into the computer.

Max's jaw dropped open. "You did _what_?"

"I have to inform Mr. Sullivan of any unauthorized visitors. I have orders," the transgenic said, as if it were the simplest thing on the planet. "Besides, if you leave now, there's a 97 percent chance of failure."

"Look, we're X-series," Max said. "We can take out any guards. We just have to get around your puppet master."

Flash snorted derisively. "The other guards are all X-series, too. Tim makes sure we all stay in line and do what Mr. Sullivan needs done."

"This is so not good." Alec started pacing back and forth in front of the desk. "Any ideas, Max? Cause I'm really not in the mood for a lobotomy right now. I was just sort of getting used to the idea of not having to be a mindless automaton."

Max took another look around the room, but already knew they were trapped. There were no other windows or doors except the one they'd used to enter.

"Max, get behind Flash. Use him as a hostage if you have to," Alec ordered, placing himself beside the door, gun at the ready.

Max did as he suggested, grabbing a pair of scissors off the desk since that was the only weapon at hand. She looked up just in time to see the door open and several men enter. The man she'd seen earlier was in the lead, with several men behind him who had to be security.

Alec didn't budge as the men entered, all of them moving toward the desk and her, assuming she was the intruder. A final man entered the room, and Max recognized Mr. Sullivan, the reason they were there in the first place. Max saw Alec fly into motion and grab Sullivan in a headlock, his gun to the man's head. "Nobody move or the boss' head gets a new window."

Paying absolutely no attention, every one of the men turned around. Alec took his gun away from the still squirming Sullivan, aimed straight at the Coercive and fired. The man dropped like a rock and didn't move again. "What did I just say?" Alec said, his tone all disappointment.

Max saw that the guards were definitely Xs. They were all about her age, above average looking and _fast_. They all had their guns out and aimed in Alec's direction, but they held their fire as Alec returned his gun to its place digging into Sullivan's ear.

Max moved from her place behind the desk to stand beside Alec. As she passed the man on the ground, she saw that it wasn't a fatal wound. There was a decent amount of blood coming from the side of his head, but from the look of it, Max guessed that he'd moved fast enough for Alec's shot to be just a glancing blow.

"My friend and I are going to leave now," Alec said lightly. "No need for any of this to get ugly. We're going to leave Flash right where he is. You can have Sullivan back too in just a minute, but not before the two of us walk out the front door. Fair enough?"

"No one sees Flash," one the guards said and Max saw that vaguely confused blankness that she'd noted in Flash's expression. They'd been under the Coercive's influence too long and were too far gone. Except one, Max noted. His gun wavered and his confused expression was becoming even more confused.

"What are you doing, Tank?" one of the other guards snapped. "We have orders!"

"Right," the other guard said, although he didn't quite sound as if he believed it. "Orders…" He turned toward the other man. "Why… why do we have orders?"

"We work for Mr. Sullivan and this guy has him at gunpoint. Focus, Tank!"

"Max, we should really be going," Alec said, beginning to move backwards toward the door. Max couldn't agree more and moved with him.

"I… I was trying to get to Canada," the confused guard said. "But I stayed here… Why…" The man's eyes widened as he looked up and saw Alec moving away with Mr. Sullivan still in a chokehold. "You did this!" the man suddenly shouted and raised his gun again, now pointing at Sullivan instead of Alec. "You had him keep me here!"

"Shut up and do your job!" Sullivan managed past his constricted throat.

"Oh, crap," Max and Alec said at the same time. The guard's eyes sharpened abruptly and without waiting another second he fired, emptying half a dozen rounds into Sullivan. Alec backed away and let the very, very dead businessman fall to the ground.

Everyone in the room seemed stunned, staring down at the corpse. Alec cleared his throat. "Eyes Only wanted him stopped, so… mission accomplished."

"Not sure he's gonna be happy when we tell him," Max replied.

The guard who'd shot Sullivan ran out the door around Alec. Deciding that was a good idea, Alec kept his gun trained on the remaining guards as he began backing out the door. He grabbed Max's sleeve and pulled her with him.

The man Alec had clipped, the Coercive, began to stir. He raised his head and looked straight at her.

"Max, no!" Alec called.

But it was too late. Max met the other Transgenic's eyes and felt herself falling as the world turned black.

* * *

_For the Americans in the bunch, tomorrow will have fireworks of its own, so a chapter won't add much to the celebration. More soon…_


	4. Chapter 4

**Cat Got Your Tongue**

Summary: Max and Alec are sent on a mission to save another transgenic, only to find they're the ones in need of saving.

_Got this done a little earlier than expected. So one we go…_

Chapter Four

* * *

Alec didn't even stop to think. He tightened his grip on Max's arm and dragged her through the door, firing blindly into the group of men who all dove for cover. As soon as she was clear of the doorway, Alec dropped her, slammed the door shut and braced himself against it to keep it closed.

"Tank!" Alec shouted to the guard who was already at the end of the hall. "Does this door lock?" The man hesitated, just barely, turning his head undecidedly between Alec and the exit. "Come on, man. You help me, I'll help you."

The guy hesitated for another second, long enough for someone on the other side of the door to bash into it, forcing Alec to re-brace himself. Finally, the man ran back, pulling a small key chain from his pocket. He jammed it into the lock and Alec heard a deadbolt slide closed. "Hurry. It won't hold them long."

"Lead the way." Alec scooped Max up, her body completely limp in his arms and ran in the same direction Tank had been running earlier, hurrying to keep pace with the guard.

"That's her, isn't it?" Tank asked, his breathing slightly faster as they ran past office after office. "That's 452. I've seen her on the news."

"Her name's Max. We've got a car. Just get us out of here and we'll get you to Terminal City."

The guy smiled and it was startling under the circumstances. "You shot Tim. I think you took care of the hard part."

"I didn't do it well enough, did I?" Alec said grimly.

They headed across the main lobby of the building drawing stares as they ran, but paid no attention. As long as no one tried to stop them then they could stare all they wanted.

"Where's your car?"

"Around the corner, stashed in some trees," Alec answered, resettling Max in his arms. He spared a moment to look down at her, worriedly noting that she had yet to stir.

They hurried out the door and then blurred toward the car, knowing how little time it would take a Transgenic to break down a door. As they approached the car, Alec set Max's legs on the ground and hugged her to him long enough to grab the keys from her pocket and throw them to Tank. "You drive," he ordered, once again gathering Max up. He slid into the back seat with her and kept her in his arms as Tank started the car and roared into the roadway and away from Sullivan's offices.

Alec held Max in his lap, but sat her up so that he could see her face. "Max? Max, can you hear me?"

"He get a good shot at her?" Tank asked, looking at them in the rearview mirror.

"Don't know," Alec answered. "Long enough." He knew from experience that a Coercive could take down the strongest of them with only a few seconds of concentration. They were just too good at making you do what they wanted you to do and if they told your brain to be unconscious then that's what you were.

"Max?" Alec said again. He brushed her hair back from her face, her slack expression the last thing he wanted to see. Whether smiling, frowning or sneering at him, Max's face was never expressionless. His heart banged painfully in his chest and he had to force himself to calm down. She would be fine. He just had to give her time. The Coercive's order would wear off soon enough.

"Where to?" Tank asked.

"Head toward Seatt-" Abruptly Max started seizing and Alec swore.

"What the…" Tank nearly swerved off the road at the sight of what was happening in the back seat.

"No, no, no," Alec said although he knew it was useless. It looked like a tonic-clonic seizure, what they called a grand mal in the old days, more frightening even than the other times he'd seen her with the shakes. Max's entire body tensed and she arched away from him, all of her limbs stretching out, then after several seconds though it felt longer, she went into full convulsions, her muscles contracting and relaxing rapidly. She began to roll as the seizure continued and Alec held her as best he could, feeling the muscles straining beneath his hands. He was careful, however, not to hold her too tightly, just enough to keep her from accidentally harming herself or hitting him.

Alec swiftly changed plans. "We're gonna need some place to hole up."

"There's a little motel… About half an hour from here and it's off the main road," their driver suggested. "It's in the opposite direction from Seattle, too. They won't expect us to go that way."

"Go," Alec said coming to a quick decision. He held onto Max as Tank did a quick turn and headed off onto a side road and Alec guessed he was going to circle back, just not on the main road in case they were already being followed.

After about a minute, Max's seizing tapered off and she fell against him, gasping for breath. "Max? You with me now?" There was no response. Alec turned her and sat her in his lap with her head resting against his shoulder. He chose not to question why he didn't let her rest in the seat beside him, or why he felt the overwhelming need to keep her in his arms until he was certain she was all right. Max could hit him for it later.

"She ok?"

"She just needs a minute," Alec answered, willing it to be true. This wasn't anything like Max's normal problem. Alec had seen the shakes and this was different.

Sometimes a Transgenic reacted badly to a Coercive's orders. It was all about brain wave manipulation, but the end result could be almost like a seizure brought on by blunt force trauma. In a way that's exactly what Manticore had intended. Their specially trained soldiers took a battering ram to a person's head until they did exactly what they were told. Alec had seen things that made what Mia had done seem like a gentle massage in comparison.

Looking at Max now, Alec could see that the Coercive messing with her head hadn't gone over well with her. He only hoped it wouldn't trigger further seizures. He knew Max still had to take pills to keep her usual tremors at bay. It was another of Manticore's legacies. Its children knew about nearly every neurological disorder possible. Experimental children tended to have all kinds of odd problems pop up.

"You wanna tell me why you guys were there?" Tank asked.

"Rescue mission. We thought there was a transgenic being held and were going to spring him. Turns out Flash wasn't the only one being held against his will."

"Tim makes sure we all do what Sullivan needs… needed done. He only got hold of me a month or so ago and put me on the security detail." He looked out the window so that Alec couldn't see his face. "Probably why I broke the suggestion more easily."

"Over now," Alec said evenly and Tank just nodded still not looking at him. Alec couldn't blame him. No one liked it when someone dug around in their head. "If Tim was the problem, you wanna tell me why you shot Sullivan?"

"He was giving the orders. I've only been here a little while and that was enough time for me to remember… back home. Ordinaries using Psy-Ops to keep us in line… Bastards, every last one of 'em." He clenched his jaw tightly, reining in his temper. "I don't like being forced to do things anymore."

Alec simply nodded his understanding and they fell silent. There really wasn't much else to say. Sullivan was dead. Logan would be angry, but Alec really couldn't bring himself to care. Max hurting was a problem. People like Tank getting their heads messed with was a problem. Jerks who gave Manticore a run for their money weren't really anything for him to lose sleep over.

After what felt like forever, Tank finally pulled the car into the small ancient looking motel. It was a squat little building with a small office on one end and a strip of rooms with doors all opening to the front along a short walkway.

Tank parked the car in front of the office and turned around to look at Alec. "Thanks for this. I'm going to have to leave you guys here though."

"What?"

"I was heading to Canada for a reason. One of my old unit members is there and I was going to meet her. She's got to be worried to death since I didn't show."

"Her?" Alec raised an eyebrow.

Tank grinned. "Yeah. I've spent months trying to find her."

Alec sighed. He'd been hoping for help, but he understood. "Once you find her, you're both welcome in Terminal City."

Tank just looked at him for a second before saying, "Nothing personal, but I've spent too long around people like us to trust us. Tim was proof of that."

Alec shook his head and looked down at Max, still unconscious in his arms. "Some of us you can trust," he said with conviction, brushing his hand through her hair. "It's hard to believe, but some of us would die before letting you down."

* * *

Alec awkwardly managed to open the door to the tiny motel room while still holding Max. He carried her across the threshold and stopped long enough to kick the door closed, then stood to survey the room. One tiny bathroom, one tiny dresser, one nightstand with a lamp on it and one double bed. The woman had informed him that was what all the rooms were like. If he wanted two beds, he would have to pay for two rooms. Max was still unconscious and he wasn't willing to leave her alone right now. She could yell at him when she woke up.

More disturbing than that, there was no TV. Alec sighed. Life really wasn't fair sometimes.

Alec walked to the bed, lowered Max's feet to the floor and hugged her to him long enough to pull the covers back. He then picked her up and sat her down on the bed. He eased her jacket off and tossed it to one side then settled her back on the pillow and raised her feet, taking a moment to tug off her shoes, before pulling the covers up over her.

Alec stood up and tried to stretch the tension from his shoulders. He had no clue what to do now. He was designed to be a soldier, a man of action. He was made to kick butt and take names. And he was pretty good at it, if he did say so himself. Alternately he was the laziest transgenic around. He liked watching TV, drinking scotch, playing pool, and annoying Max. None of which really told him what to do at the moment.

Alec ran his hand through his hair and suddenly realized how exhausted he was. In addition to the adrenaline wearing off from their escape, he just hadn't had enough sleep. They'd spent the night before at the party for Logan and then driving here.

"Max, if you don't want me to take a nap, you'd better say something." She didn't, of course, and Alec shook his head at his own stupidity. He kicked off his shoes and shrugged out of his jacket, throwing it next to Max's. He set his gun on the dresser then walked around to the other side of the bed. He looked down at her sleeping form and hesitated for a second.

She really was beautiful. It was more than that, though, and he knew it. He couldn't have left her if he tried. If she'd insisted on it, he knew he would have stayed at Sullivan's and tried to come up with some way to sneak Flash out of there. He'd have done it for her.

"Last chance, Max." He waited for another moment before pulling back the covers on his side of the bed and stretching out. "Don't say I didn't give you the chance to object."

The bed was small enough they were elbow to elbow. Alec turned on his side and propped his head up on his hand so that he could look at Max. She should have been awake by now. Or maybe not. What did he know about it? Whenever he'd been in Psy-Ops, he'd been having his brain so thoroughly shredded, sometimes he was just grateful he could remember his own name, let alone what had actually been going on while they tore him apart and rebuilt him.

Max made a small sound, close to a whimper. Alec half sat up and braced one arm on the other side of her so he could lean over her. "Max? Maxie?"

Her face scrunched up in pain and she tried to turn on her side, but Alec could tell she wasn't fully conscious. She was still in that dazed, semi-awake time after a seizure. People tended to be confused, not really surprising since their brain had just gone haywire on them and started firing in all directions.

Alec did the only thing he could think to do. He stretched out beside her and pulled her into his arms again. He smoothed a hand over her hair and made awkward noises of reassurance, as best he knew how. Whether it was a decent job of it or not, he didn't know, but Max seemed to relax and he relaxed along with her. She would be all right. She just needed a little time to reboot.

After a few minutes, Max's breathing evened out in sleep, a more natural sleep this time. With her warm form clasped to him, the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest soothing away his worry, Alec slipped away as well, his last thought that Max would kill him when she woke up, but it would be worth it.

* * *

Max woke slowly. She took a deep breath and immediately froze. First, every muscle she had protested angrily at the movement as if she'd had the most grueling workout imaginable. Second, she realized that the heartbeat she heard pounding in her ears didn't actually belong to her. Her head was resting against someone else's chest and it was their heart she was hearing. Which brought her to, three, the scent that was surrounding her… Alec. She was half-sprawled on top of Alec.

"Breathe, Max," Alec ordered sleepily, his voice rumbling through his chest and Max felt it all the way to her toes. "You can take advantage of me when you're feeling better."

"I'm fine," she mumbled, completely ruining it when she tried to pull away from him and whimpered as her body betrayed her.

"Easy," he said from above her. Max opened her eyes and although she didn't remember it, she was now on her back, Alec leaning over her, his expression troubled. "The Coercive must have given you one massive sucker punch, mentally that is. He knocked you out, brought on a seizure."

Max could believe it. Her whole body felt strained and shaky, worse somehow than after the shakes. "We get away ok?"

"Mostly," Alec said, his more normal smirk appearing. "The guy who shot Sullivan brought us here before he took off. It was too far to Seattle and I wanted to make sure you were ok."

"Thanks," she managed awkwardly. Alec was still watching her carefully, leaning over her, one hand braced on either side of her. As if realizing it was making her uncomfortable, he sat back, sitting cross-legged on the bed, facing her, his knee brushing her hip.

"No problem," he answered simply. "As long as you don't make me go back there without a much better plan."

Max closed her eyes again, her head pounding like it might explode. She had to agree. The guy had only taken a look at her and it had been like a switch had been thrown. She'd simply shut down. "Fair enough."

"Good." There was such relief in his voice, that Max cracked open one eye to look at him. "What?" he asked. "I'm not ashamed to admit Psy-Ops people scare the crap out of me."

Max didn't say anything, just kept looking at him. Alec was one of the most practical people she knew. He survived. He did what he had to do. As she watched him, she realized he'd never been anything but honest with her about that. He'd easily admitted to being a trained assassin within seconds of meeting her. He happily told her when he was bored, or hungry, or thirsty, or looking for female companionship, or worried. He told her anything and everything, often more than she wanted to know.

It was weird to think of him as honest, but she guessed it was why people seemed to be comfortable dealing with him. He was totally upfront about his mercenary nature. He wanted money and whatever creature comforts he could acquire and made deals to make it happen.

Yet he wasn't honest with her at all. He kept it all hidden away. Some Transgenics wouldn't quit talking about their Manticore days and everything they'd suffered, but beyond the one slip-up in the bar, Alec still hadn't told her anything about Berrisford and his daughter. She had the feeling that mission had been life-altering, beyond what lost love could do, but he would never say as much. He would talk about other Transgenics, her, Logan, find what others needed, find whatever would make his own life easier, but tell her anything _real_?

"You spend a lot of time in Psy-Ops?" she asked.

Alec shrugged. "Enough. Between my own screw-ups and 493, I saw more than my fair share."

"You ever dealt with this guy?"

"Tim? Not that I can remember, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything with these guys. Still… There's something…" He rubbed a hand over his face tiredly, his gaze far away. "Hard to hold onto the details sometimes when they're trying to rip your brain out through your nose."

"It's over now." Max remembered her last encounter with Psy-Ops and couldn't imagine what it must have been like to be in their hands for months and months, six months he'd said when Ben had gone nuts.

Alec snorted. "Is it?"

"What do you mean?" She frowned in confusion.

"Nothing."

She could tell it wasn't. He'd turned his head away from her so that she couldn't see his eyes. His face wouldn't give anything away, but those eyes of his were more expressive than anyone's had a right to be. "Tell me," she said, keeping her tone even and matter-of-fact.

"Every once in a while, I just… I'll catch myself doing something automatically and wonder…"

"Wonder what?"

Alec turned his face back toward her and his eyes met hers and for a second she saw the same panic in his eyes that she'd seen at Sullivan's office when Alec had realized there was a Coercive in charge. Alec quickly hid it away, but Max knew what she'd seen.

He looked down and scratched a hand at the back of his head, a tell-tale nervous gesture. "After you've been in their hands for a while you don't know if you're thinking something because you want to or because they told you to think it. You just can't tell the difference. Every once in a while I wonder what's still sticking around."

Max couldn't help a smile. If anyone had managed to come out of Manticore with a distinct personality intact, a healthy dislike of authority, a sense of self, a sense of humor, all despite their best efforts to beat it out of him, it was Alec. They'd wanted a soldier, but they'd accidentally made a mercenary. They'd wanted him to fall in line, but their attempts to do so had pushed him farther and farther away until he was his own island, a lonely, self-sufficient island.

"There a reason you're smiling when I'm being all vulnerable and brooding?" Alec asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Sorry." And she was. Alec was once again wearing his standard _I'm all right_ smirk. Just like that he'd closed down and she didn't know if he would ever revisit the topic with her. She doubted it. In a moment of weakness, Alec might give her one chance at these things and that was it.

"S'ok." He shrugged. "I call it _The Logan_. I thought I'd try it since you seem to go for that sort of thing."

"Don't," Max warned.

"Next comes the talk about pasta and injustice." He cocked his head to one side. "Or is it injustice and then pasta."

"He's doing the right thing," Max said. "He's doing what needs to be done."

"That's what they said every time I ended up in Psy-Ops," he shot back bitterly.

Max's eyes snapped to his face, saw his tightly clenched jaw. "Alec?"

He let out a slow breath, visibly forcing himself to relax. "Sorry, Max. That was low. Even for me."

"Your issues are showing. Might wanna do something about that." She set her hand on his knee, trying to reassure him.

Alec's eyes met hers and for the second time that day it was like a switch had been flipped. Except this time the lights didn't go out. She felt like she was suddenly in direct sunlight, Alec's eyes bright, hungry, burning into her.

He set his hand on her leg, his fingers curling beneath it, his palm flat against the inside of her thigh just above her knee, his thumb making slow circles. "You wanna help me do something about that?"

Max had to clear her throat. "If that hand moves north, I may be forced to kill you."

Alec grinned wickedly and pointed toward the headboard. "Pretty sure that's west."

"Then you'd better be heading east, young man." Max tried for stern, but knew she wasn't really carrying it off.

Alec just raised an eyebrow and slowly slid his hand to her knee, kneading gently. Max's eyes fluttered closed. It had been so, so long since anyone had touched her and Alec certainly wasn't one to let an opportunity pass once he'd made up his mind. Max involuntarily slid her hand above Alec's knee and tightened her grip on his leg.

"Max, if your hand moves any higher," he warned, his voice tightly controlled, "mine's heading for the border whether you like it or not."

Max laughed, something in her chest unfurling, a tightness that had been there so long, she'd barely recognized it was there until it was gone.

Alec's head snapped toward the door just as it was kicked open. The first person through the door raised a Taser and fired. The attached electrodes shot out and caught Alec in the chest. Max knew that the gun could deliver the charge as long as the trigger was depressed. Alec crashed to the floor, helpless to fight back against the incapacitating shock.

The second person through the door, another one of Sullivan's X-series guards, had a good old-fashioned .45 and he leveled it at Max's chest. "Don't move."

* * *

_Does a Taser count as fireworks? Happy 4__th__ of July to my fellow Americans. Have a good one. More soon…_


	5. Chapter 5

**Cat Got Your Tongue**

Summary: Max and Alec are sent on a mission to save another transgenic, only to find they're the ones in need of saving.

_Sullivan's guards had just caught up with our two favorite people…_

Chapter Five

* * *

Max looked on helplessly as the guard continued to fire the Taser, Alec's body arching off the floor as his muscles drew up involuntarily. Two more guards came into the room and, with the exception of the one covering her, circled Alec.

Finally, the man with the Taser stopped firing and Alec slumped to the floor, gasping for air. The guard yanked the leads out of Alec's chest and Max shouted, newly furious. Tearing them out of his skin was adding insult to injury.

"You thought Tim would just let you get away with killing Sullivan? That he wouldn't send us after you?" the guy with the Taser yelled. "Sullivan was our responsibility!"

"You _shot_ Tim!" a second guard shouted. He drew back a booted foot and kicked Alec. Max was sure she heard ribs crack. "You think he'd just let you get away with that?"

The lead guard leaned over Alec, who still seemed dazed, putting his boot over the already broken ribs and pressing down. Alec gasped, trying to turn away. The guard raised his foot as if to allow it, but Max saw he was only pulling back for a better shot. "When Tim's back on his feet." _Kick_. "He's gonna turn you." _Kick_. "Inside." _Kick_. "Out."

Another guard kicked Alec in the face, snapping his head back so hard, Max was afraid it might have broken Alec's neck. The sound was enough, however, to draw the gunman's attention away from Max and that was all the opening she needed.

Max popped the gun out of his hands and flipped it around. "The next one of you that touches him is gonna be in a world of hurt."

The guards looked up, scowling, but they moved back from Alec who groaned, still stunned, and rolled onto his uninjured side. "Max?"

"Alec, it would help if you'd get on your feet sometime soon."

"Sorry, Maxie," he said, his voice slurred. "Was a little busy… gettin' my ass handed to me."

"Well, now you can get it off the floor," she ordered. Max found her shoes and crammed her feet into them. "_Now_, Alec."

The urgency in her voice seemed to get through to him. He managed to get both of his hands under him and lever himself off the floor on his second try. He, too, found his shoes, then staggered toward the door, picking up his own gun from the dresser where he'd set it. Max kept the guards covered while he left then followed him out.

Alec was standing outside, leaning against the wall, the hand not holding the gun around his ribs. He straightened, however, as she came through the door.

"Car?" she asked.

"Hid it off… a side road… about half a mile away."

"Can you make it?"

"I'll make it," he said, and Max really hoped he was telling the truth.

Alec's eyes suddenly widened just as the bullets started chipping plaster off the motel exterior. Max barely had time to catch a glimpse of yet another guard standing beside the office, gun in hand.

"Run!" Alec shouted unnecessarily, already heading in the opposite direction. He blurred around the end of the building and Max followed, heading away from the small open area and into the trees. Alec slowed once they had some cover. Max knew he was hurting and took the lead, heading farther into the woods.

They could both hear the guards heading into the woods behind them. "Car?" Max mouthed silently and Alec pointed in the direction he'd hidden it. She immediately headed that way, pleased when she heard the guard who had entered the woods closest to them heading in the wrong direction.

Max stayed in the lead, listening for Alec's increasingly halting steps behind her. His ragged breathing was getting louder, too. Finally, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned just in time to see Alec fall to his knees and topple forward. Max caught him just before he hit the ground. He barely stifled a shout when she grabbed him around his chest to keep him upright and then abruptly sagged against her, his head falling heavily on her shoulder. Max bit back an apology. She'd grabbed his broken ribs and he'd blacked out on her.

Max turned him and set him flat on the ground. She knew his chest had to be a mess. Getting kicked in the ribs was one thing. Having an angry Transgenic do it repeatedly with the intention of crushing his ribcage was another thing altogether. His head had to be killing him as well. He was already bruising badly in a boot-shaped pattern centering near his temple.

"Alec?" She patted his cheek less than gently.

He blinked his eyes open slowly, working to focus on her, then they slid closed again. Max smacked him again, harder this time and Alec's eyes flew back open. She saw understanding filter in this time, if a bit more slowly than she would have liked.

"We need to go," she whispered.

"Go, Max," he mumbled. He managed to bring a hand up and clumsily patted at his pocket. "Keys."

"I'm not leaving you here, stupid," she hissed.

Alec did another slow blink, trying once again to gather himself, then shook his head. "Go. Get you caught."

Even as he said it, Max could hear one of the guards in the distance heading in their direction. Max grabbed Alec's arm and jerked him forward. He cried out faintly then sagged, falling into her lap, his head lolling to one side.

The picture was so familiar, Max nearly dropped him. Sitting in the woods with Alec's unconscious form in her arms, another scene replayed in her mind as if it had happened only yesterday and was happening all over again. It was Ben in her arms, telling her to leave him, to kill him and go. And she had.

Max looked down and the sight of Alec's lifeless body was almost more than she could bear. Logan called him a sociopath, but Max remembered what it had been like holding Ben. She remembered what it was like holding a truly disturbed person in her arms, a killer, a man who had asked her to kill him, had tattooed who knew how many men with his own barcode, killing himself over and over again.

Alec's face was tilted away from her, his slack profile all she could see. She was grateful for the bruising. It was a reminder that this wasn't her dead brother in her arms, but his twin who was alive, if not well. Ben, she had been willing to let go, as gut-wrenchingly painful as it had been. Alec… She wasn't willing to let him go yet.

Max gathered him close and put her hand under his head, turning his face toward her. He was pale to the point of being gray. Freckles that she'd never taken the time to notice were sprinkled across the bridge of his nose, standing out starkly against his ashen face. "Alec?" She shook him when he remained unresponsive. "Alec, open your eyes."

It took several seconds, but he managed it, although his eyes were glazed. Max listened for how close their pursuer was and knew he was near enough he would be able to follow voices. "We need to move. I'm gonna help you up."

"No. Get caught," Alec objected, working to breathe through the pain. "Come back… later. Rescue…"

Max almost smiled. Almost. No, he wasn't Ben. If she had to save herself first, then Alec fully expected her to come back for him. "Don't pass out on me," she ordered. "You pass out and I'll get caught and that will seriously piss me off. Understand?"

Alec was so out of it, he didn't even bother with a snappy rejoinder. He simply closed his eyes, trying to gather himself for what he knew was coming. "Stubborn."

Max stood and was reminded of her own aching muscles, but there was nothing she could do about that right now. Her heart was hammering in her chest, making her head pound in time with it, but all she could think about was Alec. He had sagged back to the ground as soon as she wasn't there to support him and once again, all she could see was Ben. All she could see was his dead body where she'd left it lying on the forest floor.

"Just go," Alec gasped. "Go."

Max shook her head. If she left Alec behind, she would be killing him as surely as she'd snapped Ben's neck. The Coercive wouldn't allow him to live long enough to be rescued.

Max knelt beside Alec and mercilessly pulled him up, dragging his arm across her shoulders. She got them to their feet and he sagged, forcing her to take nearly all his weight. Max just braced herself to move. She'd carry him if she had to. She wasn't going to let it happen again. After a second, Alec seemed to focus and took a little more of his weight, but didn't bother to pull away from her. They both knew he wouldn't stay standing.

"Ready?"

"As I'll… ever be," he wheezed.

Max knew there just wasn't any good way to hold him. Any pressure on his ribcage was going to be excruciating. She put her arm around him, looping her fingers through his belt loops. He hissed, but it was better than anything else. Together they moved forward. Alec, she knew, was almost entirely focused on staying conscious, so Max stayed focused on guiding them through the undergrowth as smoothly as possible, while at the same time listening for their pursuers above the sound of Alec's shallow but ragged breathing. She knew one of the men was getting closer by the second and tried to hurry their pace.

"Not gonna… make it," Alec panted.

"Shut up. We're gonna make it."

A bullet slammed into the tree two feet to their right, spraying bark. Several more followed and Max gave up on subtlety. She pulled Alec's arm more securely across her shoulders and blurred. She was practically dragging him and knew she was aggravating his injuries, but half-dead was better than all dead.

Max stumbled when they unexpectedly broke through the tree line onto the roadway. Alec groaned at the fresh agony the sudden stop caused, but Max knew they were out of time. "Which way?" she demanded. He barely nodded toward their left and Max once again broke into a run, dragging a nearly insensible Alec with her.

The car finally appeared, hidden in a small copse of trees. Max didn't even slow. She grabbed the keys from Alec's pocket as another bullet zinged past her ear, close enough that she could feel it. Max threw Alec into the passenger seat before crawling over him into the driver's seat and jamming the keys into the ignition. She knew how carefully Logan babied the car, but now wasn't the time. Max slammed the car in gear and tore down the road, as much as the crappy car was capable of anyway. She heard two more bullets hit the exterior, but there didn't seem to be any real damage done. Bessie just accelerated away from two guards who appeared behind them on the roadway.

Max drove for another minute or two, her eyes darting between the road ahead and the rearview mirror. Finally, she turned to look at Alec and nearly drove off the road at the sight. Instead, she slammed on the brakes.

"Breathe, Alec!" she shouted. His head was thrown back and his jaw was clenched hard enough that the cords were standing out in his neck. Max leaned across him and pulled the lever to make the seat recline. Alec fell back along with the seat, his eyes screwed tightly shut, his lips tinged blue. "Alec!" She smacked his cheek, trying to get his attention and succeeded only in causing a slight flinch.

"Alec, I know it hurts, but you've got to breathe!" Max urged. She laid her hand on his chest and felt the barest rise and fall. Movement of any kind was killing him, including the expansion of his ribs required to breathe and Alec was just shutting down, the burning in his oxygen-starved lungs easier to bear than the burning ribs. The damage was bad enough that she could actually see the difference in the side that the other Transgenic had done his best to kick in, because it looked like he'd partially managed it.

"Alec, look at me," she ordered. He paid her no attention, however, too intent on his own problems. She smacked him, harder this time. "Look at me!" she said again, and this time he was surprised into opening his eyes. The temporary break in his concentration meant that he took in a deeper breath and she saw tears spring to his eyes as a whimper escaped his tightly pursed lips. It wasn't a sound she associated with him, not one she'd even thought in his repertoire and it hurt her to hear it.

Alec clamped his eyes shut again and Max set her hands on either side of his face, more gently on the side that the guard had kicked. She pressed her forehead to his, her nose brushing his. "Breathe with me. It doesn't have to be much. Just some," she said, gentling her voice. "In… and out. In… out."

"'Kay," he managed. He still didn't open his eyes, everything he had focused on controlling the pain, controlling his breathing.

"Good," Max said, careful not to show the relieved panic that was coursing through her. "In… out…" She eased away from him and threw the car back in gear. With another anxious glance in his direction, she accelerated, more gently this time to save some of the pressure it would put on him. Max looked in the rearview mirror and was relieved at least to see that no one was following them.

Max gripped the steering wheel more tightly. Now if she could get Alec back to Seattle before he punctured a lung she'd consider it a minor miracle.

* * *

_More soon… Not too many reviews for the last couple of chapters, so I'm assuming there's a problem… I'm reworking everything, so next chapter might be tomorrow, might not._


	6. Chapter 6

**Cat Got Your Tongue**

Summary: Max and Alec are sent on a mission to save another transgenic, only to find they're the ones in need of saving.

_Thank you very, very much for the reviews and a very special thank you to the anonymous reviewers that I can't reply to personally. And now, after much glaring at the computer… let's try this again…_

Chapter Six

* * *

Max looked over at Alec, relieved to see that he was merely gray now instead of blue. They'd been driving for a couple of hours and she'd been very careful to hit as few bumps as possible. Holding still had eased the pain and with it the breathing problems. His breathing was painfully shallow, but it was more regular in its rhythm. The bruising on his face was already turning the mottled greens and yellows of older bruises thanks to his accelerated healing, but she knew how badly he was still hurting by one simple little fact. Alec had yet to say a word.

They were getting close to Seattle, so Max grabbed her cell phone and dialed Logan.

"_Hey, Max. I thought I'd hear from you earlier. How'd it go_?"

"I'm not sure the word crappy even begins to cover it." She glanced over at Alec to see the tiniest quirk of his lips.

"_What happened_?"

"Sullivan's dead, we didn't get the Battle Processor or any of a bunch of other transgenics being held there and Alec nearly had a boot put through his chest." This time Alec grunted, although he immediately winced, sorry for the movement.

"_Are you all right_?"

"I'm fine."

She saw Alec shake his head despite whatever pain it set off. "Seizure," he mumbled.

"_What was that_?"

Max shot Alec a glare. "Nothing."

Alec swallowed heavily, then took a deeper breath. "She had a seizure," he said loud enough for Logan to hear.

"_You had a seizure_?"

"It's ok. I'm fine."

"Tell him, Max, or I will," Alec threatened. He paused a second, concentrating on his breathing. "Hurts, but I will."

Max scowled. That was just playing dirty. "I'm better now," she said through gritted teeth.

"_You didn't have your tryptophan_?" Logan asked. "_You got the shakes_?"

"Yeah."

"No," Alec said adamantly and then surprised her by holding out his hand for the phone. When she didn't give it to him, he waggled his fingers impatiently. He grimaced at the movement and Max hurriedly gave it to him despite her annoyance at his high-handed behavior.

In truth, she was curious to see what Alec had to say. She didn't remember much of anything. She had a vague memory of pain and not being able to control her muscles before she'd once again fallen unconscious. It had seemed different from other times when she'd gone haywire, but she hadn't really had the chance to think about it.

Alec took the phone from her and then put it in his other hand so that he could hold it on the undamaged side of his body nearer the door.

"_Max, what's going on_?"

"It's Alec."

Max could practically hear the tension on the line. Logan managed to be civil to Alec, but there was always an underlying tone. Max couldn't really blame him she supposed. Real or not, she'd dumped him for Alec, someone they'd both spent months tearing apart, someone Logan considered a sociopath and a thief, of Max and anything else that wasn't locked up.

"_What's going on_? _Is Max all right_?"

"I'm pretty sure she's ok, but there was a Transgenic at Sullivan's whose specialty was telecoercion. He was keeping the Battle Processor and several other Xs there. We were trying to leave and he did a mental shutdown on Max. She had a bad reaction and went into convulsions. If you can arrange it, she ought to be checked out."

"I'm fine," Max contradicted. She'd been driving for two hours and her muscles were nearly back to normal and her headache was fading. She was far more concerned with how much Alec was having to work to talk. He was purposely hiding it, as best he could, from Logan, but Max could see the toll it was taking.

"_What do you mean 'shutdown'_?"

"He probably just meant to knock her out so he could reprogram her later like he had the other guards."

"_But_?"

"I've seen them do worse," Alec supplied. "If he'd meant to he could have just shut her down permanently. I've seen one of them so completely knock someone down that there was no real brain activity afterward."

"_But you think she's all right_?"

Alec turned slightly so that he could glance at her. "She looks fine to me." He winked and Max's eyes widened in surprise before she shook her head in disbelief that he was beaten half to death and still flirting. "But just to make sure. The seizure… We all know how much Max doesn't like it when Manticore messes with her. I don't think her brain liked it much either."

"_I'll make the arrangements_."

"You gonna have him make arrangements for you too?" Max asked pointedly. He was nearly panting for air now that he was talking and his lips were taking on a bluish shade again.

Alec grinned, a pained, lopsided thing as he held the phone away slightly. "I'm good."

Max just huffed. She'd have smacked him if she didn't think he'd pass out.

"Logan, can we… return the car later?" he asked. "I'm…" Max could see he didn't like admitting to weakness in front of the other man. "I'm not really feeling up to bringing it back right now. Max and I could both use some rest."

"Sure," Logan answered. "No problem. You sure Max shouldn't see the doctor immediately?"

Max frowned, annoyed that Logan wasn't any more concerned over Alec's condition. Couldn't he tell how badly the other man was hurting? Logan couldn't see him, but Max could hear it in Alec's voice, practically hear him screaming it in his admission that he needed a break.

Alec glanced at her again and she could see him weighing her need to be checked out against his own aversion to being in a doctor's hands. He was in such bad shape she was tempted to force him to go anyway. But it might draw attention and it would be better if his own Transgenic healing could handle the problem. Also, if she was being totally selfish, getting him to hold off until morning meant she might be able to talk him out of having her checked too. If need be, she could always call Dr. Shankar from the apartment and ask her to stop by.

As Alec had done earlier, Max held her hand out for the phone. He gave it to her, very carefully set his hand back against his chest and closed his eyes. For several seconds Max just watched him worriedly. Talking with Logan had exhausted him just by virtue of how much it required him to breathe. Breathing required moving ribs and moving them was painful beyond belief for him right now, but he'd done it anyway. For her.

Alec opened his eyes again and their gazes met and Max was once again amazed by how much emotion could be conveyed by a man's eyes. Alec's were stunning and, at the moment, nearly overwhelming in how much they wanted to tell her. Alec told her she was beautiful, told her she was important to him, told her he was worried about her, told her he was grateful for her help, told her he _needed_ her.

The phone was still in her hand and she could hear Logan saying her name, but Max suddenly didn't want to talk to Logan anymore. Max had turned her eyes back to the road, but she could still feel Alec watching her, feel the warmth radiating from him, feel the _hunger_ rolling off of him and remembered what had happened in the motel room before they'd been interrupted. Now, with Alec beside her, Logan suddenly felt like an intruder.

Max cleared her throat and put the phone to her ear. "Logan, I'm really ok," she managed. "The guy just knocked me out and I didn't handle it well, but I'm fine."

"_You're sure_?"

"Yeah. I really just need to get Alec home." _Home_. She'd never really associated that word with him before. Yet, it was suddenly comforting to think of him that way. Neither of them had ever really had one, but the idea of Alec always being with her… "He's the one who needs some TLC."

Logan was silent for a second and she could tell he was unhappy. She felt a pang of guilt, but it was painful like any old wound and fading further with time.

Max wasn't paying enough attention and hit an enormous pothole. The car nearly bottomed out and Alec gasped, wheezed, groaned, all at the same time and then simply went silent. Silent, as in not breathing again.

"Gotta go." Max closed the phone despite hearing Logan's protest on the other end. Max put her foot down. She had to get them back to Seattle and get Alec someplace warm and secure where he wouldn't be jolted at every turn. She reached across and set her hand lightly against his forehead. "Breathe, Alec. I know it hurts. Just stay with me. We're almost there."

* * *

Stairs. Max really hated stairs and she was pretty sure Alec did too right about now. She walked a couple of feet onto the landing to his floor and then leaned him against the wall to let him rest. Max was exhausted by the effort it had taken to get him upstairs, his weight becoming heavier and heavier. Alec was shaking from exertion, wheezing badly and looked about to pass out. The bruising on his face stood out in stark relief to his translucently pale skin.

"Hate… stairs…"

Max let out a snort of amusement and he just raised an eyebrow as if to ask, _Is that funny_? She shook her head. "Should've taken you to Logan's if you wanted someplace lower."

Alec looked like he wanted to laugh, but simply held a hand to the damaged side of his chest. "Pasta… No scotch… Rather… die."

Max felt her amusement leave. Now that he was standing Max could see that what she'd thought earlier was probably even worse. Alec's chest was badly misshapen. Ribs were there to protect lots of very vital bits that really didn't appreciate being mashed, poked or squeezed. She wanted him resting and then she was going to call the doctor herself.

"S'ok," Alec said, seeming to read her mind. "Broken ribs… plenty… of times." He tried to straighten to prove how fine he was and only succeeded in setting off a round of coughing that had him falling forward and Max lunging to keep him from doing a face plant.

"Come on, tough guy," Max said tersely. "Let's get you in bed."

"You gonna… join me?" he asked, giving her a somehow charming leer.

"I'd break you." To prove her point she pulled his arm across her shoulders and he gasped in pain.

It put his face right in line with hers, however, and he used the opportunity to tilt his head to the side and lean his forehead against her temple. His nose brushed her cheek, a gentle nuzzle, as his lips pressed closer to her ear. "I'm already… broken, Max. Do… your worst."

Max turned slightly so that she could see his eyes. His mouth said he was fearless, that she couldn't hurt him in body or soul, but his eyes… his eyes said differently. She could crush him. He'd somehow managed to stitch himself back together after Manticore tried to break him, but only just. He was beyond vulnerable. Yet, he was offering his heart to her, broken, stunted thing that it was, to do with as she pleased.

"Behave yourself," Max ordered gruffly and began moving toward his apartment door. Alec fell silent and allowed her to lead him. She carefully held onto him while he dug in his pocket and retrieved a key. It wouldn't keep her out, but Max knew it would do for keeping the Ordinaries away from his television.

Alec turned the knob and Max pushed the door open with her foot. "Ready?"

"I think… I can handle the… trip to the sofa."

Max rolled her eyes. "Try that again without wheezing and I might believe you."

"What can I say, Maxie," and she could tell without looking that he was grinning. "You take my… breath away."

"Well," a hard voice drawled, "isn't this domestic?"

Max's head snapped up to see Sullivan's security chief sitting on the sofa, his handsome, but too-angular features staring at them. She could see the wound where Alec had grazed the Coercive. Unfortunately, he looked anything but incapacitated.

They were so screwed.

* * *

_Ye olde showdown tomorrow…_


	7. Chapter 7

**Cat Got Your Tongue**

Summary: Max and Alec are sent on a mission to save another transgenic, only to find they're the ones in need of saving.

_Allrighty… y'all were promised a showdown…_

Chapter Seven

* * *

The Coercive's eyes darted back and forth between them, but Max didn't feel him doing anything, not that she would necessarily realize it. She wasn't unconscious at least.

"Come in," the man urged. When Max hesitated, she felt the tiniest pressure at the base of her skull and before she knew it, she was moving farther into the room, bringing Alec with her.

"Tim, is it?" Alec asked, and the man nodded. "Kind of a sissy name… for such a scary guy… don't you think?"

Tim got to his feet, all smooth cat-like grace, and walked toward them. "Manticore used to call me _The Intimidator_," he offered casually. "I just shortened it."

"Why are you here?" Max asked.

He cocked his head to one side. "I had to meet the two people who had caused me so much trouble. The dynamic duo, they call you. The two leaders of the Transgenic people, Max and Alec, Alec and Max, always together," his expression darkened, "always _interfering_."

"We were trying to help Flash," Max said defensively. "We thought Sullivan was holding him against his will."

"Quiet," he said and again Max felt that pressure at the base of her skull and knew it was more than just a suggestion. "See, some Transgenics don't _want_ your help. But you two," he sighed heavily, "you waltz into my home and ruin everything I've spent a year making happen."

"You were gonna… what? Take over Seattle?" Alec asked.

"I was going to _escape_," Tim answered coldly.

"Escape?"

Tim cocked his head to the side again, observing them and it made Max's skin crawl. "I hate people," he said evenly. "Every last one of you. You two might be happy living in squalor with the Ordinaries and the freaks, but if I never see another Manticore drone or another mindless Ordinary, it'll be too soon."

"Why were you with Sullivan?"

Tim shrugged. "Money. Plain and simple. I almost had enough to get out. Sullivan was a terrible businessman, but he served his purpose. Ordinaries are like cattle. So easily prodded."

"And Transgenics?"

"Some more than others. Your friend Flash has some canine DNA. Dogs are so much more obedient than we cats are. Not that cats can't be taught new tricks."

Max felt herself moving and didn't really think it strange. She let Alec go and moved to stand beside Tim. Max turned and saw that Alec was having to work to stay upright, hands splayed across his injured ribs.

"I was going to buy an island," Tim explained, "a real island, where none of you could ever bother me again. I could live in peace. And then you two showed up and it all fell apart in one fell swoop."

"Just leave her alone," Alec said quietly. "I'm the one who shot you."

Tim regarded him, tilting his head to the side in that unnerving way he seemed to use when sizing others up. "That shot of yours cost me my _freedom_. I just want to be free, free from Manticore, from Transgenics, from Ordinaries, free from _all_ of you."

"So go," Alec said. "Leave. Force everybody off whatever island you want and live there until you rot."

"That is a certain way to draw attention," Tim replied tiredly, anger still simmering beneath the surface. "You two… you will force me to live here, out in the world with all of your stupid, easily manipulated little brains buzzing around me until the arrangements can be made. I just want _away_ from you."

"The feeling's mutual," Alec said.

Tim's eyes narrowed. "Always so defiant, 494."

"You know me?" Alec asked, and Max saw him swallow nervously. He must have been terrified by the prospect for him to show it, even something so small.

"Of course," Tim answered simply. "Professionally speaking, you were an interesting case. Most of the people I worked on just crumbled, but you…"

"I had enough practice, as often as they had me in there," Alec said. His voice was stronger, his breathing faster and Max knew it was adrenaline. Alec wasn't feeling much of anything at the moment.

"It was quite amazing actually, watching your personality change."

Alec frowned. "Amazing isn't exactly the word I would use."

"You were so _earnest_ before the Berrisford Mission. Dedicated, solemn, loyal. When it failed they brought you to me to rebuild, thinking I could fix it."

"Oh, you fixed it all right." Alec was shaking now, but not with pain or fatigue.

Tim raised an eyebrow speculatively. "The more I tried, the more you fought me. Not overtly. You were smarter than that. Your personality changed and the more we tried to make you a loyal soldier, the more you slipped away. Nonchalance, humor, a lack of dedication to anything but yourself, but always following orders when necessary. It was an impressive survival mechanism."

"I'm so glad you were impressed," Alec snapped angrily. "You ripped me apart and were surprised I was a little off when you put me back together. That's great to know."

"Indifferent, easygoing… and yet masking all kinds of defiance. You were a hard nut to crack, 494."

"My name is Alec."

"Is that really how you want to play this?" Tim inquired, something in his tone that Max _really_ didn't like. "After this," he gently set his fingers over the wound on his scalp where Alec had grazed him, "you want to challenge me? My patience has limits, 494."

"My _name_ is _Alec_."

"You think you can stop me?" he asked. "I've broken you before. I can do it again."

"We're not Manticore anymore," Alec answered. "Just go."

"Now you're trying to tell me what to do? That's my job, 494. I'm the one who's supposed to teach _you_ a lesson."

Max saw Alec pale even further, if that were possible. "Don't do this."

"Draw your gun."

Alec stiffened, fighting the Coercive's order, but after a second he reached to his back and drew the gun he still had tucked in his waistband.

Tim stepped closer to Max and put his arm around her shoulders. "That wasn't the hard part," he said conspiratorially and Max realized he was speaking to her. "You see he really wanted to pull his gun anyway. He just couldn't figure out how to do it before without making the situation worse." He leaned over as if to whisper a secret between friends. "Watch this."

Tim stood up straight again. "Why did you go to Sullivan's?"

Alec grimaced, fighting him again, but couldn't. "Max wanted to rescue the Battle Processor."

"_You_ wanted to rescue Flash?"

"Couldn't have cared less. I was just watching Max's back."

"You love her?"

Max's eyes met Alec's. "I…" He opened his mouth, then closed it again, then finally said, "Yes."

"Does she love you?"

Alec looked like he'd been sucker punched. "No."

"Awww… That's too bad. You seem to work so well together." Tim leaned closer to her again. "See? The truth. It's the easiest thing to get out of people. Underneath everything else, people are just dying to tell the truth. We don't for various reasons, self-preservation, good manners, deceit. But as much as people love secrets, people love to tell them more. I hardly even have to press." He nodded toward Alec. "This one though, he fights even that. Always did. His secrets were his."

"Alec," Max managed.

"I thought I told you to be quiet," Tim chided and Max shut her mouth so suddenly her teeth clacked. "No. Getting someone to do something they ought to be doing anyway or would normally do, just not at that moment, that's nothing. The real test of a Coercive's skill is whether or not they can get someone to do something completely against their conscience."

Tim released her and took a step to the side. "452, don't move. Kill her, 494."

Alec half-raised the gun and Max could do nothing but look on helplessly. She couldn't move. She strangely had no desire to move despite everything she had telling her it was what she ought to do.

Alec's hand started to shake and he closed his eyes, visibly fighting for control. "Can't," he said through clenched teeth. "_Can't_."

"Oh, you can," Tim supplied. "You took my dream. I think it only fair that you pay the price. I'll take your dream from you. Kill her, 494."

"Not Max," Alec whispered. "Can't."

"_Kill. Her_. Do it, 494."

"_Alec_. My name is Alec. My _name_ is _Alec_." He said it over and over again like a mantra and Max had never been more grateful that she had been the one to name him. It seemed very important that the name she had given him was what was holding him together.

Tim walked to stand right beside Alec, although not blocking his gun or his line of sight to Max. "Have it your way. Kill her, _Alec_."

"No," he said shakily. His eyes were clamped shut now and his entire body was trembling from exertion. Despite that, he gripped the gun more tightly and started to bring it to bear. "No," he whispered again.

The gun was aimed right at her heart, but still Alec did not fire. The Coercive stopped bothering to periodically glance at her and centered his whole attention on Alec. "You always were a strong-willed one. I warned them to put you down, but they wouldn't listen. You looked so submissive when they came to visit. But I knew how much you fought me. I still won though, didn't I? Wiped your memory of the sessions and you went back to work for them like a whipped dog."

"No," Alec said louder this time, a pained cry, "not Max," as if he were listening to something else that Max couldn't hear. Looking at Tim, Max thought that might be true. The man had his head cocked to one side while he talked, concentrating on his victim. He was talking, wearing him down, but he was doing more than that and Alec was shaking so badly that Max was afraid he would fire just because he wouldn't be able to control his muscles properly.

Tim finally got right in Alec's face. He grabbed his chin, startling Alec into opening his eyes. "KILL HER!"

Alec abruptly stopped trembling, his body going rigid. He looked at Tim, then at Max, back and forth several times, his eyes wide. Then they rolled back in his head and just as if a plug had been pulled he dropped to the floor.

Tim looked down at him and shook his head. "Impressive as always, 494," and for the first time Max heard something close to respect in the Coercive's voice. "You almost give me hope for the rest of the cattle." He smirked. "Almost."

The man turned around and looked at her. "When I'm finished with Flash and the others, I will send them to you. A month should be sufficient. Is that acceptable?"

Max was nodding before she realized her intention.

"Don't follow me," he ordered. "I never want to see any of you ever again." Tim looked back down at Alec, who had yet to move. "If he wakes up, tell him the same."

"If?" Max said, suddenly finding her voice.

"Don't follow me," Tim said again and Max nodded. She wouldn't. She couldn't. The man stepped over Alec's fallen form and walked out of the apartment.

* * *

_The wrap-up tomorrow…_


	8. Chapter 8

**Cat Got Your Tongue**

Summary: Max and Alec are sent on a mission to save another transgenic, only to find they're the ones in need of saving.

_And here you have it, all wrapped up. Since this was promised as a puff piece, this little chapter is so fluffy it might as well have rabbit DNA._

Chapter Eight

* * *

"What's wrong with him?" Max demanded, not caring that her tone was close to belligerent. She'd been sitting by Alec's hospital bed for what felt like forever. Her nails were bitten nearly to the nub and she couldn't quit bouncing her leg nervously.

Save for the bruising, Alec was as pale as the sheets covering him. Max'd had no choice but to call after the Coercive left the apartment. Alec had collapsed and she'd been unable to rouse him. Her mind kept repeating Alec's warning that he'd seen people so badly damaged by a Coercive that they'd been brain dead for all intents and purposes.

"Do you want the long answer or the short one?" Dr. Shankar asked.

Max gently squeezed Alec's hand in hers and with the other smoothed her fingers over the mottled discoloration on his face, wishing she could make it disappear. "Short," Max said, forcing her eyes to look at the doctor.

"The short answer is I don't know." The woman shrugged, her expression frustrated. "The injuries to his chest were substantial. They looked almost like what you'd see on someone who'd been crushed. If he were a normal person, I'd have him in surgery right now, but I'm hoping that the damage will heal without that. Surgery would involve too many people and draw all kinds of attention."

"What about this?" Once again Max gently ran her fingers over the bruising on Alec's face before brushing his mussed hair back from his brow.

"He has a severe concussion, but that should heal fairly quickly as well. It's just hard to keep one of you in a hospital." She smiled tiredly.

"Then what's the problem?"

The Doctor sobered quickly. "It's his brain. And like I said, I just don't know. I don't understand well enough how telecoercion works to understand how it affects a person's brain."

"He's… His brain's not…" Max squared her shoulders, forcing herself to say it. "He's not brain dead?"

The woman shook her head. "No. In fact, his brain activity is far higher than it should be. The scan is lit like a Christmas tree. It's as if he's severely over-stimulated and his brain just can't process it all."

Max leaned down by Alec's ear. "Over-stimulated, huh?" she murmured indulgently. "Why am I not surprised?" When there was no response, she couldn't stop herself from ruffling his hair again to remind herself he was still alive and breathing. Max straightened and looked at the doctor. "So what do we do?"

"First of all, you need to get him out of here."

"What?" Max snapped angrily. "I thought you just said his brain is going crazy."

"Exactly. And the neurology people are already asking questions, as are some of the others who've seen some of the test results. One of them is a known anti-Transgenic activist. I'm afraid he's going to call for reinforcements."

Max swore furiously. Manticore docs were one thing, but having to hide from regular doctors who were sworn to help people was just wrong on so many levels. "I'll have him out of here in an hour if you think it's safe to move him."

"I don't like it, but I don't want him hauled out of here by people who will hurt him either," Dr. Shankar said honestly. "I've already done what I can for him here, but if you'll call me and tell me where you take him, I'll stop by after my shift. I won't be able to monitor him properly, but it'll have to do."

Max nodded. "So we just… wait and see if he wakes up?"

The doctor looked embarrassed. "I just don't know what caused this and I don't know how to fix it either. His brain is severely overloaded and I don't know how long even a Transgenic can last like that, especially when he's concussed and his body is working so hard to heal the rest of him."

Max looked down at him worriedly. "He could just shut down?"

"You should talk to him," the doctor said, rather than answer. "Let him know he's safe. Let him know that whatever this person did to him, it's over now. From what you told me, I think a lot of this might be from his own efforts to keep the Coercive from forcing his hand. His brain went into overdrive to keep him from hurting you."

"He did this to himself?"

"Your bodies are just built differently. I don't know what a Transgenic brain under attack might be capable of doing." She raised an eyebrow and smiled. "I know what the rest of your bodies can do when you're threatened."

"Yeah," Max said with a light huff of a laugh.

"Call me when you get where you're going," the doctor reminded her.

Max nodded, waiting for the other woman to leave before she looked back down at Alec. He had dark, dark circles under his eyes, and was frighteningly still, although she knew now that his mind was racing. "Still hiding things from me?" she whispered. "Hiding all your worries beneath that pretty face of yours?" She half-expected him to arch an eyebrow or smirk at her for calling him pretty, but there was nothing.

Alec had somehow managed to fight off the order to kill her and it had left him completely incapacitated. He'd admitted that he loved her, and more importantly that he didn't believe she loved him. Believing that, he'd still nearly killed himself to keep from killing her.

If Max had been harboring any doubts that Alec was more than just flirting with her, this had certainly put them to rest. That left her with only her own muddled feelings to contend with. Max had no illusions about herself. She was an emotional train wreck at the best of times. She was great at keeping people at a distance. Letting people get close was an entirely different matter. Looking at Alec now, however… There was no way she was leaving him alone now. She wasn't sure she could ever leave him alone again.

"Alec," Max barely managed past her constricted throat. "Wake up."

"I didn't believe you."

Max looked up to see that Logan was standing near the door, watching her. She'd been so intent on Alec, she hadn't heard him come in. "Huh?"

"When you said you were together with Alec," he explained. "I didn't believe it. Not really. After that first night, I thought about it and decided it was your way of dealing with the virus."

"Logan, I-"

"No, it's fine. I understood, sort of," he admitted sadly. "I didn't like it, but I understood."

Max grimaced. "I didn't mean-"

"But when you two came back from the party all dressed up… I saw the way he looked at you and then your face… Max, it's been a long time since you've looked at me that way, if you ever did."

Max didn't know what to say to that. "I'm sorry." At the time she'd thought Alec was acting, but knowing what she did now she doubted it. She wished he was awake to talk to her about it.

"It's ok." Logan looked down, unable to make eye contact. "It just let me know that it wasn't a complete lie even when you thought it was. I always knew he cared about you more than you realized."

Max felt her lips quirk up on one side. "Couldn't seem to get rid of him, could we?"

Logan shook his head. "Think the guy must have some leech DNA, he's attached so well."

Max snorted lightly. "I'll be sure to tell him you think so. But I've got to get him out of here. The other doctors are starting to connect the dots."

"Want some help?"

"I got it," Max said, sorry for the stricken look that crossed his face. It didn't matter, though. Logan could help with a lot of things, but this wasn't one of them. Moving Alec was going to require help from someone she couldn't accidentally kill. If she was being honest, however, Max knew it was really that she just didn't want Logan with her right now. She was too worried, too vulnerable, and knew she would be until Alec was awake and she could talk to him. Once again, she felt like Logan was intruding on something that no longer concerned him. This was between her and Alec now.

Max sat down again beside Alec and leaned forward, instinctively wanting to gather him close to her and protect him. She didn't, knowing how badly injured he was. Instead she clasped his hand in hers and raised it to her lips, feeling the nearly feverish warmth radiating from it.

Logan shifted uncomfortably and Max's eyes rose. Some of what she was feeling must have registered, because Logan simply nodded and for the first time she saw his real withdrawal from her. He knew he was intruding.

"You'll let me know if you need anything?" Logan waited for her to nod then started out the door. "Take care, Max."

* * *

Max looked up at the sound of Alec shifting under the blankets. A week. She'd been talking to him for a week. She doubted she'd ever talked so much in her life. His body had healed itself for the most part. The bruises were gone from his face and his ribs were knitting together nicely. The damage to the organs underneath didn't seem to have any lasting effects.

He still wouldn't wake up. Max had nearly thrown something at Logan when he'd suggested she might need to look into a long term care facility. That was just what Alec needed to make him feel safe, some institution with a lot of faceless medical types.

Alec shifted again under the covers and Max really took notice this time. That was more movement than she'd seen all week. He'd just been lying there, the lights on but nobody home.

Max stood up from the chair that she was pretty sure had molded to the shape of her butt she'd been in it so long. She walked closer and leaned over him. "Alec?"

Alec's face screwed up as if he were in pain and he made a low, guttural noise in his throat. "Alec?" Max said anxiously. "Can you open your eyes for me?" He shifted again, then turned his face away from her. "Alec!" she said more loudly.

His entire body went rigid and his eyes flew open. He took one look at her and blurred, scrambling off the bed despite the clinging sheets, going until he couldn't go any further, ending up crouched in the corner. He crossed his arms in front of his face, shielding his eyes from her.

"Not Max," he whispered hoarsely. "Not her."

Max crossed the room in a few strides and knelt in front of him. She put her hands on his forearms, trying to get him to drop his arms. "Alec, it's over. He's gone. It's just you and me."

Alec lashed out blindly and Max tumbled back. "Get away from me, Max! I can't stop him!"

"Alec, you did!" Max said, pushing herself back to her knees in front of him. At some point in the last week, she'd realized that was the reason for the moment of respect she'd heard in Tim's voice. Alec had managed to hold him off. It had completely incapacitated him to do so, but Alec had managed it nonetheless.

Max grabbed his forearms again, still crossed in front of his face. She had to use all of her strength to pry them apart. Alec's eyes were tightly closed and Max did the only thing she could think of to get his attention. She leaned forward and kissed him. When she sat back, Alec's eyes were wide open and staring at her. His legs slid out from under him and he sagged to the floor, leaning back into the corner, his breathing harsh and loud in the sudden quiet.

* * *

The first thing Alec realized was that he wasn't hurting, not like he should be anyway. The last time he'd been conscious he'd felt like his ribs were scraping him raw from the inside out. They'd been grating and poking lots of organs that weren't meant to be poked and ensuring that every single breath was agony. That had died to a dull ache which meant he'd been out a lot longer than a couple of minutes.

The second thing he realized was that Max was kneeling in front of him, looking beautifully disheveled and more worried than he could remember seeing her in recent memory. That and she'd kissed him. Of her own free will. Which meant he was either dead or… "Don't tell me. We're the last two people alive and this is for the good of the species." His voice sounded gravelly from disuse even to him. His heartbeat was returning to a more normal rate, however, and that was good at least.

Max sat back heavily and her head drooped. She laughed and it sounded exhausted. Laughter shouldn't sound exhausted. When she looked back up, he saw the barest hint of tears before it was gone. She pursed her magnificently full lips, kissable lips. "Not for the species," she finally said. "Just me."

"Just you," Alec murmured. "You could at least buy me a drink then before you jump me." He felt a grin tugging at his mouth. "It's only polite."

"So now I'm not polite?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I look after your sorry ass for a whole week without so much as a thank you and now I'm not polite?"

"A week?" Alec asked, surprised. Even if he'd been badly injured he shouldn't have been down that long. Unless…

Tim. The Coercive had done something and Alec couldn't remember it.

Alec remembered some of what had happened the times he'd been in Psy-Ops. When Ben had escaped with Max, there had been test after test, but it had mostly been lots of re-indoctrination, hammering home loyalty, duty, all of the usual, basically the same things they had been doing already just harder, nastier.

Being sent to Psy-Ops after his screw-up with Rachel had been a whole different ballgame. He'd spent months there and didn't remember nearly as much of it as he should. That was where he'd learned to fight them, or at least work around them, where he'd learned to look like he was re-trained and keep his real thoughts entirely to himself. The loyal soldier had found out that maybe he wasn't the good guy in the story anymore. If he kept focused on that he would go crazy though, so he stopped thinking about it. He stopped taking things seriously. He stopped taking _anything_ seriously. He couldn't care about something that meant nothing to him either way. If he could laugh at it all, then it didn't matter.

He couldn't really remember Tim from then, just a few memories and a vague thought that he _ought_ to remember him. He remembered fighting the coercion, though. It had taken time, but he'd gotten better at it. It had never completely worked, not in the end. The Coercives were just too strong and he'd been too exhausted, too broken. But he'd learned to hide behind his mask of Loyal Soldier well enough that they didn't work quite as hard on him, didn't put the effort into it that they had and Alec had stayed hidden. He'd fought what he could and hidden the rest until they'd let him go.

He'd been different after that. He'd known it. But like everything else, he hadn't looked into it seriously. Other than staying alive, nothing was important enough to care about after that, not even himself and whatever mess they'd made of him.

When he'd been hauled back in after Ben had gone offa the deep end, Alec'd had his mask firmly in place. He knew what they were looking for and he'd known to watch out for the Coercives. It was easier to fight the coercion if he knew what he was up against. Tim hadn't been in charge of him that time, Alec was sure of that. He hadn't recognized him, but everyone at Manticore had heard stories about _The Intimidator_. Tim was their Big Gun and was used for the hard cases like when a trusted operative went completely nuts and fell in love with the target's daughter and refused to follow orders. It had been Mia who'd been working on him during the Is-494-Going-To-Go-Psycho-Too? visit to Psy-Ops.

Alec had almost lost it when Max had dropped the bombshell that Mia was a Coercive. She'd ordered him to forget he knew her and he had. By the time Max had offhandedly mentioned that he'd made a good little puppet and his memories had come back, it was too late. He'd already done every last thing Mia told him to do.

Alec had been furious that Max had known earlier and hadn't bothered to tell him. Knowing Mia was a Coercive would have helped him fight off some of the orders. He wouldn't have gone into that ring and risked White catching him all over again. Max hadn't thought it necessary to warn him. She'd left him high and dry. Not that he'd told her how ticked he was. What good would it have done at that point? Max hadn't understood what the Coercives could really do, what they _had_ done. Max had shrugged it off, thinking Mia was a lightweight and using them, sort of, for a good end.

Alec didn't care if Mia had been trying to save a busload of nuns. He didn't like being used and Mia could have _asked_ for their help. He'd been forced to submit after Rachel to stay alive, but Manticore was gone now. He didn't appreciate having to play their games.

Unfortunately, Tim hadn't cared about Alec's wishes any more than Mia had. Tim had wanted his freedom and in order for that to happen Alec had to lose his. He'd fought. He'd put up every mental barrier he knew how to make, pulled on every bit of experience he had dealing with the bastards from Psy-Ops, concentrated on one thing and one thing only and held onto it for all he was worth because the alternative was unacceptable. He'd killed Rachel, but he couldn't hurt Max. He just couldn't. He would not kill Max. He would _Not. Kill. Max_.

Max punched him.

Alec blinked, stars dancing briefly in front of his eyes. His vision cleared and Max was directly in front of him only inches from his face, her hands on either side of his head. "You with me now?"

"What was that for?" he demanded.

"You were headed back off into… wherever you were. You wouldn't answer me," Max snapped.

"Answer you?" Alec blinked again, disoriented, and for the first time he realized that he did have a headache. It wasn't like anything he was used to, certainly not what he expected from the kick to his head.

Max sighed. "If you ever put yourself in a coma again for me, I'll kill you."

"Coma?"

"You were fighting the coercion so hard you nearly blew a gasket," she informed him. "I honestly didn't think you were capable of thinking that much."

"Have to keep you on your toes, Maxie. I'm afraid you'll leave me if I get boring." Alec froze, realizing what he'd just said. It also reminded him of what he'd said under coercion. He'd admitted that he loved her. And that he knew she didn't care. _Crap_.

"From that panicked look on your face, I'd say you just remembered your little chat with Tim," Max observed.

"I… You… You can't blame me for that," he said, wondering why she hadn't already killed him in his sleep. "It was-"

"The truth?" she asked, one eyebrow raised. "Pretty sure he said getting the truth out of people was the easiest part."

He could feel anger bubbling up, threatening to overtake him. "So glad you had time to discuss me while he was laying my soul bare."

"Well, at the time, I was sort of frozen in place and ordered to be silent, if you'll remember," she shot back.

Alec felt himself deflate. Being angry at Max was useless. He was the stupid one. He was the one confessing in front of an audience because he couldn't keep his mouth shut. He'd just barely managed to get Max to the point where she could stand being around him, if he was really generous, to say that she halfway enjoyed his company… at times anyway. Tim had wanted to take his dream away and by making Alec answer that one little question he had. It would be awkward now, and Max wouldn't want to stay any longer than she had to.

"Was it true what he said?"

Alec frowned in confusion. "What?"

"About your personality changing after the Berrisford mission?"

It wasn't the question he'd expected and Alec hesitated, not sure how to answer. "I guess."

Before that mission, he remembered taking his position very seriously, loyalty to his country and his commanders so firmly instilled he'd truly believed he was doing the right thing. After that mission, he'd thought Rachel was dead and he'd believed that he'd killed her. At first he hadn't been able to bring himself to care what they were doing to him. His body had been there, but it was like his mind had been beyond their reach, stuck in its own personal disastrous loop, worse than anything they could possibly do.

After that, he'd had to lock it all away. He couldn't forget what had happened no matter what they did. So he had to stop caring. It had taken time, but that's what had happened. He just hadn't cared about anything. He'd floated along, doing what he had to do to stay alive, just living in the moment, because if for one second he let himself think about the past, the walls would all come crumbling down. He didn't care because he _couldn't_ care.

Then one day he'd been sent to a new cell where a dark-haired siren had been waiting for him to call him out of his self-taught indifference.

"I don't mind it so much," she said.

"What?"

"The new personality."

"You didn't know me before," he said doubtfully.

"Yeah, but I've just never really been attracted to the blindly loyal, no sense of humor, soldier types. Good thing you wised up, isn't it?"

Alec just looked at her and wondered if his head injury was worse than he'd thought. "But…"

"I mean it's good for a brother and all. I mean, Zack… I'd trust him with my life… And you can't really pick your family… They're just sort of there." She raised an eyebrow. "But when you're looking for someone special…"

Alec shook his head doubtfully. "Yeah, always look for the Psy-Ops damaged ex-soldier. We're great at parties."

"You're great for balancing out bitchy, hard-assed chicks who have a hard time expressing their feelings outside of punching someone."

"You already punched me," Alec observed.

"Yeah, I did. You get the message?"

"Not quite. Where's a Coercive when you need one?"

"Don't need one." Max tilted her head to the side, studying him. "You love me, Alec?"

He couldn't have answered then if he tried. He was as firmly silenced as Max had been by the Coercive. That one little question packed more opportunity for disaster than any Eyes Only or Manticore mission.

When he didn't answer, she added, "Just tell me."

"Don't need a Coercive, huh? _You_ gonna make me?" he jeered, panic fluttering in his chest.

Max smiled, and it was all woman, setting off an entirely different flutter around his heart. "I'm not gonna make you do anything. This is a barter system as much as anything else since the Pulse hit. I get what I want and you get what you want." She moved closer to him, her lips a whisper away from his. "Do you love me, Alec?"

He saw no point in denying it. She already knew the answer. "Yes."

"So I got what I want." She brushed her mouth very lightly against his, not a kiss, just the faintest of touches as she spoke. "Now what do you want in return?"

Alec thought that for once Tim was right. Deep down, people were dying to tell the truth. "You, Max. I want you."

She kissed him and her perfect lips were everything Alec had ever imagined them to be.

"Well, then," Max said breathlessly, "I think we just might have a deal."

* * *

_And there you have it… Been a pleasure. Hope you enjoyed it. I've got a Supernatural story in the works at the moment, so until then…_


End file.
